What We Do

The California Coalition for Public Higher Education advocates and organizes for the resources and policies our public higher education system needs.

As outside advocates, we work to ensure the entire public higher education system – the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges – gains its fair share of resources and attention in the state Capitol and in the budget process.

• We believe California’s public higher education system is a world-class model for creating opportunity, social mobility, and equality and MUST be fully funded.
• We believe the system is a ladder to success for all Californians and cannot continue to be constantly at risk of losing funding, capacity, and reach.
• We Believe the promise of higher education is a keystone to the social and economic success of the Golden State.
• We believe public higher education is still distressed from decades of underfunding and neglect. We fight to ensure it will not renege on its commitment to students and residents
• We believe Legislators and California’s elected leaders need to be informed and reminded about the needs and struggles of public higher education in California to ensure they understand the need for resources and support.

How We Act

• We use our long-standing relationships, knowledge of budget and education policy, and public outreach to ensure public higher education gets its fair share of resources and attention in Sacramento.
• We educate and organize the public about the crisis in California’s public higher education system to build support for increased funding, attention, and resources
• We work with legislators and stakeholders to ensure that our public higher education system has a voice and champions in the budget and legislative process
• We collaborate with public higher education leaders, students, and affected communities to advocate and promote the benefit and positive social and economic impacts of our public higher education system

We do this not because we benefit. We do this because we understand how crucially important protecting and improving California’s world-class college and university system is to our state’s continued success and vitality.

Our public higher education systems are always just one budget away from irreparable harm. That is why we founded the Coalition, and why we continue to fight every day to protect our colleges and universities.