blog post Video: Challenges and Opportunities for Higher Education By Linda Strean Apr 14, 2016 Kevin de León, state senate president pro tem, and Janet Napolitano, University of California president, agreed on the need to better fund higher education and expand access.
blog post Testimony: Closing California’s Degree Gap By Hans Johnson Mar 3, 2016 The most promising approach to closing the workforce skills gap is to concentrate on improving the educational attainment of California residents.
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.
Report Will California Run Out of College Graduates? By Hans Johnson, Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Oct 12, 2015 California’s higher education system is a critical driver of the state’s economic progress. As the state’s economy continues to change, will its workforce be ready for the jobs of tomorrow? This report updates and extends projections of California’s workforce skills through 2030, focusing on the supply and demand for workers with a bachelor’s degree. We find that the state will fall about 1.1 million college graduates short of economic demand if current trends persist—a problem we call the workforce skills gap. Even the arrival of highly educated workers from elsewhere is unlikely to be large enough to fill this gap. Today’s college graduates have better economic outcomes than those who do not hold a bachelor’s degree. Over time, college graduates have seen lower rates of unemployment and higher wages than other workers—even through the Great Recession—suggesting that college degrees have become increasingly valuable in California’s labor market. The future workforce skills gap looms large. But California and its higher education institutions can take several practical steps to close it. The core of a new plan for higher education should include increasing access to the state’s four-year institutions, improving college completion rates, expanding transfer pathways from community colleges, and being smart about aid programs.
blog post A College Degree in Three Years? By Patrick Murphy, Kevin Cook Aug 3, 2015 The University of California has promised to develop three-year degree programs on each campus and enroll 5 percent of UC students by the summer of 2017. Reaching this goal will require overcoming significant obstacles.
blog post Are Enough Californians Attending UC? By Jacob Jackson May 29, 2015 Even with the influx of out-of-state students, the UC system is currently meeting the expectations of the Master Plan for admission. Is that good enough?
press release Most Want More Higher Education Funding—But Oppose Raising Student Fees or Taxes Dec 1, 2014