New Op-Ed: Higher Education is a State Responsibility

On Feb. 6, 2017, Fox & Hounds published an op-ed from Dick Ackerman and Mel Levine, co-chairs of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education, titled, “Higher Education Is A State Responsibility.”  Here’s an excerpt:

Both the University of California and the California State University system are in the process of instituting increases in tuition and fees to help maintain educational quality and keep the doors open to worthy students.  Both systems are acting responsibly, but these increases also underscore the failure of the State to do its part in funding higher education.

In the last decade, per student support for UC in the State Budget has fallen almost 40% CSU per student funding has dropped by almost 25% in the same period.  UC per student funding is barely a third of what it was 25 years ago. This kind of anemic funding cannot sustain the finest public education system in the world.

California has long benefited from its Master Plan for Higher Education that established a framework for excellence and accessibility at the University of California, the California State University system, and the community colleges.  The opportunity for hundreds of thousands of Californians to go to college at minimal cost has fueled the state’s prosperity.  It is no coincidence that California now has the world’s sixth largest economy.

Read the complete op-ed on the Fox & Hounds website.