blog post California’s Big-Ticket Water Challenges By Lori Pottinger May 25, 2016 An expert interview on the challenges facing California’s hundreds of local public water agencies.
Fact Sheet Public Health Insurance in California By Shalini Mustala, Paulette Cha Oct 11, 2023 More than half of Californians are covered by public health insurance—mainly Medi-Cal, which covers low-income residents, and Medicare, which covers most adults aged 65 and older. The state is preparing to expand Medi-Cal to all low-income Californians, regardless of age or immigration status.
blog post Local Water Funding in the June Primaries By Ellen Hanak, Emma Freeman Jun 18, 2014 Results of the June primary illustrate the challenges in the way California funds critical water services.
Fact Sheet Public Pensions in California By Radhika Mehlotra, Patrick Murphy Mar 15, 2019 State and local governments face large and growing pension obligations. This fact sheet provides a snapshot of California’s public pensions and liabilities, their impact on local budgets, and policy changes that aim to tackle rising costs.
Report Public Safety Realignment: Impacts So Far By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Sep 28, 2015 Prompted by a federal court order to reduce prison overcrowding, California’s 2011 historic public safety realignment shifted many correctional responsibilities for lower-level felons from the state to counties. The reform was premised on the idea that locals can do a better job, and it was hoped that incarceration rates and corrections costs would fall. At the same time, critics predicted crime would rise. Four years since its implementation, realignment has made several important impacts: Realignment significantly reduced the prison population, but the state did not reach the court-mandated population target until after the passage of Proposition 47 in November 2014, which reduced penalties for many property and drug offenses. The reform challenged county jails and probation departments by making them responsible for a greater number of offenders with a broader range of backgrounds and needs. The county jail population did not rise nearly as much as the prison population fell, reducing the total number of people incarcerated in California. Realignment did not increase violent crime, but auto thefts rose. Research so far shows no dramatic change in recidivism rates. State corrections spending remains high, but there is reason to believe expenditures could drop in the future. Realignment has largely been successful, but the state and county correctional systems face significant challenges. The state needs to regain control of prison medical care, which is now in the hands of a federal receiver. And the state and counties together must make progress in reducing stubbornly high recidivism rates.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Factors and Future Projections for K–12 Declining Enrollment By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty, Stephanie Barton Dec 11, 2023 California counties serving higher shares of low-income, English Learner (EL), and Asian, Black, and Latino students expect greater enrollment losses in coming years. In the past, schools that closed due to falling enrollment had more low-income and EL students as well as lower test scores than the rest of the district.
Report Measuring Institutional Costs at California’s Public Universities By Patrick Murphy, Kevin Cook, Talib Jabbar Mar 15, 2017 California has recently increased its investment in higher education after many years of reducing state support. At the same time, the state’s four-year public systems, the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU), are currently poised to raise tuition for the first time in several years. If the past is any indication, intense discussions lie ahead about the need for additional higher education resources. We offer a constructive starting point for those discussions by introducing a straightforward and objective assessment of institutional costs. We rely on a measure that connects institutional costs to the number of degrees UC and CSU produce. This measure provides a clear understanding of trends in California’s institutional costs and allows comparisons with colleges and universities in other states. It also offers higher education institutions the opportunity to demonstrate progress toward their goals in an accessible, transparent way. Applying this measure to California’s public four-year institutions, we find that: Institutional costs per degree across UC and CSU fell significantly—17 percent—from 1987 to 2013. This is an important savings in a state that will need to amp up its number of college graduates to meet future economic demand. At UC, the cost per degree fell 6 percent over the period—from $116,000 to $109,000. UC’s institutional costs in 2013 were lower than a comparison group that included both public and private institutions across the nation. But UC’s costs were higher than a national comparison group of public schools only. At CSU, the cost fell 33 percent—from $67,000 to $45,000. CSU’s 2013 costs were lower than both types of comparison groups—one that included public schools only and one that included both public and private institutions. We recommend that policymakers and higher education leaders use the cost per degree measure as a way to frame higher education finance discussions. It provides a consistent, reliable, and objective measure of institutional costs and performance. For the measure to be most effective, accurate data reporting will be essential. We also recommend the reintroduction of a state-level higher education authority to add validity to the process of gauging institutional performance. Using the measure within a larger framework of agreed-upon goals would go a long way toward improving higher education finance policy in California.
blog post Testimony: California Is on Track to Close the Degree Gap By Hans Johnson Feb 25, 2020 Hans Johnson, director of the PPIC Higher Education Center, provides legislative testimony on California’s progress in addressing a projected shortage of highly educated workers.
blog post How Is the Pandemic Affecting California’s Independent, Nonprofit Colleges? By Kevin Cook Dec 3, 2020 COVID-19 has created a number of disruptions for higher education institutions. We talked with Kristen Soares, president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, about how these institutions are addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic.
