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Fact Sheet

College Access in California

By Iwunze Ugo

About three in five Californians enroll in college right after high school. But whether—and where—high school graduates attend college varies across regions and demographic groups.

Explainer

Is College Worth It?

By Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Cesar Alesi Perez, Vicki Hsieh, Hans Johnson

Rising college costs and a reluctance to take on debt lead many students and families to wonder if college will actually yield a brighter future with higher earnings and better jobs. In this explainer, we explore whether the benefits of a college degree outweigh the costs.

Report

Does Raising High School Graduation Requirements Improve Student Outcomes?

By Niu Gao

The shift to distance learning during the COVID-19 crisis exacerbated inequities in California’s K–12 system, adding urgency to an ongoing discussion about the role of high school graduation policy in improving student outcomes. This report shows that more-rigorous graduation requirements can have a positive and equitable impact on college readiness.

blog post

Geography of College Enrollment in California

By Cesar Alesi Perez, Hans Johnson, Vicki Hsieh

While increases in state funding and initiatives to improve access have helped increase enrollment at the University of California and California State University, disparities in college access remain.

blog post

Calculating High School Graduation Rates

By Paul Warren

One of the lesser known provisions of the new federal education law might force California to revise the way it deals with graduation rates at alternative high schools.

blog post

High School Graduation during the COVID-19 Crisis

By Niu Gao, Joseph Hayes

School closures and the move to distance learning present challenges in ensuring that California students, especially those from low-income families or with special educational needs, stay on track for graduating.

Report

Math Matters: The Links Between High School Curriculum, College Graduation, and Earnings

By Julian Betts, Heather Rose

This study examines the relationship between mathematics in high school and labor force earnings 10 years later.  Using a series of statistical models to net out the true effect of curriculum, the authors control for as many other factors as the data allow:  the student's demographic characteristics, measures of student motivation and ability, family background, and high school characteristics.  After taking into account all of these factors, the authors find the direct relationship between curriculum and earnings remains quite strong.  The analysis also shows that it is not simply the number of math courses a student takes that is important; what matters more is the extent to which students take more-demanding courses.

blog post

Ready for College?

By Hans Johnson

By several measures, a large and growing share of the state’s high school graduates are ready for college-level work.

Report

Keeping College Affordable for California Students

By Kevin Cook, Jacob Jackson

California’s financial aid programs reduce tuition for most students. But the state and its higher education institutions can improve college access and success by providing additional aid to lower-income students, addressing growing non-tuition costs, and eliminating barriers that increase the time it takes to earn a degree.

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