California Public Higher Education
College is now seen as and becoming the ever more necessary step and passport to a prosperous life, and thus ever more important to today’s high school students. There has been strong bi-partisan legislative support for funding the UC system, the CSU system and the community college system in California.
A very large percentage (63%) of California students are now attending college, and most (90%) go to the public colleges. College going has not been color blind, even in public institutions; it is influenced by your elementary and high school education, by the expectations of your parents and the aspirations of the student. College going rates are highest for Asians (83%), then for white non Hispanics (72%), and a good bit lower (in the high 50’s) for Hispanics and African American students. https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr19/yr19rel53.asp
Most high school graduates going on to college, go to the state’s community college system. “In 2017–18, more than 35 percent of all California high school completers enrolled at a community college, while approximately 12 percent enrolled at a CSU campus from high school and approximately 7 percent enrolled at a UC campus.” College attendance is highly variable by county, and students from inland California and from rural counties are the least likely to attend college, and the most likely to enroll in two-year community colleges if they do so. https://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/Statewide%20NSC%20Report%20Final%20Online.pdf
Latinos and African Americans are under-represented in the prestigious UC system. White non-Hispanic students who have more access to accumulated parental wealth are more likely than all others to go to out-of-state schools. The most common out-of-state destinations are the neighboring Arizona and Oregon state universities.
College tuitions at both public and private institutions have been rising at alarming rates, making college ever less affordable for low, median and middle-income students and particularly impacting students of color who are the students most likely to come from lower income households. https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-cost-of-college-explained/ Pell grants and Cal Grants (a state only program) do help those who are able to complete all the forms and then qualify, but only to the extent that federal and state funds are actually available, and the student qualifies for the program. Over 400,000 California college students qualified but did not receive grants in 2018-19. California is far more generous in providing financial assistance to its college bound low income students than virtually any other state, interestingly Wyoming is next. https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-cost-of-college-explained/#2261b650-978e-11e9-ba5b-973f7e0484f8 Less surprisingly the states of Georgia and South Dakota are at the very bottom.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 9/10/20