Higher Education

Some of the most controversial ideas California lawmakers were considering this year were set aside as the Legislature culled hundreds of bills in a fast-and-furious annual procedural ritual.

California’s financial aid system could get its biggest overhaul in 20 years if a proposal backed by key Assembly Democrats becomes law. And that’s just one of a slew of college affordability bills in play this legislative session. Call it ‘The Year of the Struggling Student’: Concern about the nation’s $1.5 trillion in student debt, […]

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With student debt soaring, consumer champion Seth Frotman has taken his federal fight against predatory lending to the state level in California.

Jeanny Morris had a 1-year-old baby and a resume of dead-end retail jobs when she enrolled in the Marinello Schools of Beauty cosmetology program in 2012. She used her welfare benefits to pay for transportation to and from school where, she says, staff pressured her to take out student loans to pay for supplies they […]

A bill by Assemblyman Phil Ting would bar colleges and universities from receiving state financial aid dollars if they give preference to applicants with ties to alumni or donors. Proposed just last week, it’s already raising alarm among the state’s private colleges.

If the plight of hungry and homeless college students has lately caught the national media’s attention, it’s in no small part due to the efforts of Temple University professor Sara Goldrick-Rab.  Goldrick-Rab, who describes herself as a “scholar activist,” has been trying to get policymakers to address the cost of college for years, advocating policy […]

As UC reacts to the college cheating scandal, some urge them to lock the side door, reconsider the SAT and ACT for admissions and scrutinize athletic recruiting.

Heather Hiles, president and CEO of California's new online college, advocated for granting a no-bid contract to executive recruiter Carolyn Carpeneti. Before becoming an executive recruiter, Carpeneti was a political fundraiser whose clients included then San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Brown and Carpeneti became romantically involved and had a daughter in 2001.

California is funding immigration attorneys for students and their families as federal courts weigh the fate of DACA and politicians battle over border enforcement.