Report COVID-19 Emergency Funding and California’s Higher Education Systems By Jacob Jackson, Kevin Cook, Darriya Starr Nov 16, 2022 Federal dollars offered timely, substantial support to the state’s higher education systems during the worst of the pandemic. Funding for students, online instruction, and social distancing measures made up key spending allocations.
blog post Enrollment Changes May Create Winners and Losers in K–12 Budget Deal By Julien Lafortune, Radhika Mehlotra Jul 14, 2020 Because the new state budget funds school districts based on enrollment from the prior year, growing districts could receive less funding per student this year.
Report Higher Education in California: Institutional Costs By Hans Johnson, Patrick Murphy, Margaret Weston, Kevin Cook Nov 12, 2014 Over the past 20 years, in-state tuition at both the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) has more than tripled. These tuition increases have led many to believe that spending in the state’s public higher education systems is out of control. However, a closer look reveals that institutional expenditures in the two systems—including faculty salaries and benefits, the largest budget category—have not increased significantly. Our evaluation of both revenues and expenditures shows that recent tuition increases have been driven by dramatic reductions in state subsidies to UC and CSU. In the past, General Fund contributions covered the majority of educational costs. Today, students (often with help from federal, state, institutional, and private grants) pay most of these costs through tuition and associated fees. Better budget data could help policymakers monitor costs and align higher education funding with state goals. But it is clear that tuition at California’s public universities has risen much more rapidly than the cost of providing higher education.
Report Targeted K–12 Funding and Student Outcomes By Julien Lafortune Oct 6, 2021 As students return to the classroom, record-high funding through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) will help California districts address gaps after a year of remote learning. In this report, we examine school and district spending against trends in student outcomes to offer insight into whether the LCFF is meeting its goal of improving equity in education.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Examining the Reach of Targeted School Funding By Julien Lafortune, Joseph Herrera, Niu Gao, Stephanie Barton Sep 6, 2023 The Local Control Funding Formula gives California districts additional funds for low-income and other high-need students as well as flexibility around how to spend this money. But this flexibility has raised concerns over whether districts are spending in ways that reach the high-need students and schools who generate the added funds.
blog post Governor Proposes Minor Changes to K-12 Funding Levels By Paul Warren May 14, 2014 Under the governor’s plan, schools would receive about $8,800 for each student—an increase of $780 from 2013–14.
blog post Who Stands to Gain from Changes in School Enrollment Funding? By Julien Lafortune, Joseph Herrera Jan 31, 2022 The state legislature is considering a change in how California K–12 schools are funded. Examining how attendance varies across districts—and how this relates to student demographics—sheds light on which districts might see the largest funding increases.
Report Higher Education in California: Investing in Public Higher Education By Hans Johnson, Patrick Murphy, Kevin Cook Oct 1, 2019 State funding for higher education has increased in recent years. Per student funding for the California Community Colleges (CCC) is at an historic high and the Cal Grant program is larger than ever. But the state’s investment in its public universities remains far lower than in the past.
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.
