press release California’s Education Skills Gap: Modest Improvements Could Yield Big Gains Apr 16, 2009
blog post New Reforms at California Community Colleges By Olga Rodriguez Nov 8, 2018 New reforms in California's community colleges could make placement policies more uniform and transparent, with potential to improve student outcomes and narrow achievement gaps.
Report Meeting California’s Need for College Graduates: A Regional Perspective By Hans Johnson, Kevin Cook, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Jun 27, 2017 Los Angeles County, the Inland Empire, and the San Joaquin Valley will play a critical role in whether California can keep up with the economy’s growing need for college graduates. Colleges and universities in these regions will need to work together to boost graduation rates, while enrolling more freshmen and transferring more students.
Report Preparing Students for Success in California’s Community Colleges By Hans Johnson, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Olga Rodriguez Nov 9, 2016 Community colleges identify 80 percent of incoming students as underprepared for college-level work. Fewer than half of these students advance to and succeed in a college course (44% in English and 27% in math). Concerns about poor outcomes have led to institutional reforms. This research was supported with funding from The Sutton Family Fund.
blog post Geography of College Enrollment in California By Cesar Alesi Perez, Hans Johnson, Vicki Hsieh Sep 15, 2021 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 Serving California’s Diverse College Students By Sergio Sanchez, Hans Johnson Feb 27, 2019 California is enrolling more historically underserved students in the state's public higher education systems, but helping them to graduate in four years remains a big challenge.
blog post What’s Next for Higher Education in 2023? By Olga Rodriguez, Kevin Cook Jan 11, 2023 After three years of disruption, California’s higher education institutions are ready to turn the page on the pandemic. We explore the key issues to watch this year in shrinking equity gaps, addressing enrollment concerns, and increasing college affordability and access.
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.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Pathways to College Completion in the San Joaquin Valley By Hans Johnson, Olga Rodriguez, Cesar Alesi Perez, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Aug 14, 2024 California’s San Joaquin Valley’s low four-year college-going and completion rates both drive and reflect the region’s challenging economic realities. The effective strategies some schools and districts use to help students succeed in their college-going pathways can be leveraged and scaled to generate dramatic improvements.
blog post Video: Remedial Education Reform in Community College By Mary Severance Sep 12, 2018 California community colleges are reforming their remedial placement policies and course offerings.
