Higher Education

As ransomware attacks target them, some California schools are scrambling to respond while others have done little to protect themselves.

Thursday’s vote could allow UC campuses to raise tuition every year, indefinitely — despite receiving extra state cash. Student groups are outraged and key lawmakers oppose the move, but UC says it needs more money and that financial aid will blunt the hit to students.

A bill pending in the Legislature would require California’s public universities, community colleges and secondary schools to provide free menstrual products on campus. Students pushing for the bill say they are trying to break through taboos surrounding a matter of basic hygiene, and that many low-income students suffer from “period poverty,” in which they are unable to afford the pads and tampons they need.

California high schools say they make students college-ready, but rarely does the public have the data to see if students actually made it to college and thrived. California lags the nation in public data that shows how students move from school to college and the workforce. A statewide fix is on the horizon.

California’s landmark law allowing college athletes to sign paid endorsement deals started a national movement. With the NCAA no longer banning athlete compensation, advocates are pushing to speed up the law’s implementation and expand it to cover community college players.

Lawmakers say their budget deal with Gov. Gavin Newson will expand enrollment at public universities and create a debt-free grant. But those items aren’t getting a dollar this coming year. Instead, bill language says the money will come next year. Other major investments are in this year’s budget, though.

From car caravans to stadium ceremonies with socially distanced seating, this year’s California college graduations were unlike any before, as campuses attempted to balance safety with celebration amid a still-simmering pandemic. In some cases, commencement plans were the result of hard-fought debates between students and administrators about how much in-person contact to allow. But as […]

Across the University of California, teaching assistants and tutors are unionized, but graduate student researchers are not. That could soon change, after organizers filed more than 10,000 signed union authorization cards with the California Public Employment Relations Board last month.

Thousands of California high school graduates didn’t go to college last year due to the pandemic. The drop, which mostly affected community colleges, might be temporary, but it showed the need to provide more support for students going from high school to college. A new counseling program in Riverside County aims to do just that.

College faculty for decades have been seeking more money to hire full-time instructors. But could that hurt colleges financially down the line if student enrollments continue to sag?