ABOUT

Purpose

The California Coalition for Public Higher Education was created to advance California’s future by restoring higher education as a top priority for our state. We need to stop the cycle of massive budget cuts that have caused skyrocketing tuition, larger class sizes, layoffs and furloughs.

The bottom line: continued cuts to higher education will erode the quality of the system and jeopardize California’s competitiveness and way of life.

DEFUNDING OF PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION

More than two decades of disinvestment in public higher education have been devastating to California students and families and wreaked havoc on our campuses.  A May 2012 report by the Public Policy Institute of California – “Defunding Higher Education: What Are the Effects on College Enrollment?” – found that:

* Higher tuitions, cuts to enrollments and other cuts to educational programs have meant high school graduates are less likely to attend any four-year college
* Many of our state’s best and brightest students are choosing to pursue university out of state, raising the specter of a brain drain
* For the first time in our state’s history young adults in California are less likely than older adults to have graduated from college
* California will be one million college graduates short of economic demand by 2025 unless enrollment and graduation rates improve substantially

While Proposition 30: The Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act of 2012 and recent budget surpluses have brought desperately needed resources to colleges and universities, we have a long way to go to meet the state’s educational and workforce needs.

Focus

The Coalition’s political committees support public officials and help pass measures that bring vital resources to higher education. Through research, service and teaching, our higher education system provides the workforce, healthcare, mobility, ideas and innovation needed to pull California out of the tough economic times we’re in.

Leadership

The Coalition is co-chaired by two, highly-regarded former elected officials with a strong, bipartisan track record in support of public higher education:

• Hon. Dick Ackerman (R), former California State Senator and California State Assemblyman and University of California, Berkeley alumnus.

• Hon. Mel Levine (D), former U.S. Congressman and California State Assemblyman and University of California, Berkeley alumnus.

Support

There are many ways you can help. Start by making a contribution. Share your story about how higher education changed your life. Sign up for Coalition updates and action alerts. Tell a friend about us. Join the conversation on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Together, we can make a difference.

 

 

“Universities are society’s economic engines, sure. But perhaps the public universities’ greater value is the values they stand for: that anyone who works hard enough can succeed.

“Trample on the path to affordable, excellent education, and you trample on hope.”

– Rob Eshman, Editor & Chief, Los Angeles Jewish Journal