blog post Improving On-Time Completion: Year-Round Pell Grants By Sara Adan Aug 12, 2016 One possible way to help lower-income college students graduate on time is to bring back the year-round Pell Grant.
blog post Does Guaranteed Tuition Lower College Costs? By Jacob Jackson Jun 22, 2016 Colleges that guarantee the same tuition for four years make planning easier for students—but don’t necessarily make degrees less expensive.
blog post America’s College Promise: An Opportunity for California By Kevin Cook May 5, 2016 Proposals to provide free community college have clearly resonated with a broad coalition of voters, policymakers, and advocacy groups.
blog post Reducing Tuition Volatility at California’s Universities By Jacob Jackson Apr 28, 2016 It’s clear that California’s public universities will raise tuition, but it’s not clear when or by how much. History shows that periods of low or no tuition growth are often followed by large increases.
blog post How the New FAFSA Can Help Californians By Jacob Jackson Oct 22, 2015 The revamped Free Application for Federal Financial Student Aid (FAFSA) can benefit Californians in multiple ways.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government By Mark Baldassare, Renatta DeFever, Lunna Lopes, Dean Bonner Mar 25, 2015 Some findings of the current survey: Californians are worried about the water supply in their part of the state and say that people in their region are not doing enough to respond to the drought. Many share the governor’s concern about the state’s roads and bridges; fewer support tax increases to fund improvements. Most favor using state budget surpluses to restore higher education funding, but only if tuition and fees do not increase. Support for legalizing marijuana (53%) is at its highest point; more than half of Californians would not be bothered if a legal marijuana store opened in their neighborhood. Job Approval Ratings: President Obama [PDF] Governor Brown [PDF] California State Legislature [PDF] U.S. Congress [PDF] Time Trends of Job Approval Ratings: President Obama [XLS] Governor Brown [XLS] California State Legislature [XLS] U.S. Congress [XLS] Mood of Californians: General Direction of Things in California [PDF] Economic Outlook for California [PDF] General Direction of Things in the United States [PDF] Economic Outlook for the United States [PDF] Time Trends for the Mood of Californians: General Direction of Things in California [XLS] Economic Outlook for California [XLS] General Direction of Things in the United States [XLS] Economic Outlook for the United States [XLS] This survey was supported with funding from The James Irvine Foundation.
blog post Dividing California’s Higher Education Pie By Hans Johnson, Kevin Cook Jan 20, 2015 The debate over higher education funding could benefit from a clearer understanding of how the money is divided.
press release Most Want More Higher Education Funding—But Oppose Raising Student Fees or Taxes Dec 1, 2014
Report Higher Education in California: Performance Budgeting By Hans Johnson, Patrick Murphy, Margaret Weston, Kevin Cook Nov 12, 2014 As California begins to reinvest in public higher education after several years of budget cuts, it could opt to tie funding more closely with outcomes—for example, the number of students educated or degrees awarded. This approach, known as performance-based funding, has the potential to incentivize investment by the state’s higher education systems in areas that further state priorities. Drawing on California’s minimal experience with performance-based funding and the approaches other states have pursued, this report raises four important questions for the state to consider if it wants to link funding for higher education with outcomes without compromising on either quality or equity.
