A trio of stories today covering UC and higher education in California:
National Public Radio’s report on the state of UC is at this URL:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123035049
Yudof makes an appearance. You should read his comments.
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The Public Policy Institute of California has a new survey out today. Here’s the bullet points when it comes to higher ed:
“When asked which of the four main areas of state spending they would most want to protect from budget cuts, 58 percent choose K–12 public education—the area most Californians have wanted to spare each of the nine times PPIC has posed the question. Fewer choose health and human services (17%) or higher education (15%). Far fewer choose prisons and corrections (6%). Californians back up these views when asked if they would be willing to pay higher taxes to maintain current funding for these areas:
* K–12 public education: 66 percent yes, 32 percent no
* Higher education: 50 percent yes, 48 percent no
* Health and human services: 50 percent yes, 47 percent no
* Prisons and corrections: 11 percent yes, 87 percent no”
The full report is available at http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=924
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The Legislative Analyst’s Office has just issued a report on the current state of the Master Plan. The following is their summary of the report:
The Master Plan at 50: Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts–Coordinating Higher Education in California
California’s approach to coordination of the state’s higher education system over the past 50 years has been indirect, resting mostly on well–defined missions and eligibility pools to guide the development of higher education institutions. This approach worked well during several decades of expansion, producing arguably the greatest higher education system in the world. The effectiveness of this approach has declined over the last quarter century, however, and institutions have been left to pursue their separate interests with insufficient mechanisms to advance the state’s priorities. This report examines the need for a systemwide approach to planning and coordination of California’s system of higher education, and proposes strategies for improvement. (36 pp.)
The full report is available at
http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2189