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Higher Education in California: Institutional Costs

By Hans Johnson, Patrick Murphy, Margaret Weston, Kevin Cook

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.

blog post

Trouble Ahead for Local School Ballot Measures?

By Mark Baldassare

There are undercurrents in our new survey that spell trouble ahead for local school ballot measures. In short, the public’s sense that schools are in crisis has diminished.

Policy Brief

Policy Brief: COVID-19 Emergency Funding and California’s Higher Education Systems

By Jacob Jackson, Kevin Cook, Darriya Starr, Chansonette Buck

Just before the pandemic hit, state funding for higher education was high and increasing, student outcomes were improving, and programs for students in need were robust. COVID-19 sent shocking changes through these educational institutions’ means and methods of operating.

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