College Beat

People walk past an “End Overdose” outreach table with informational materials and QR codes set up in a public plaza.

This new California law will offer college students rehab before discipline for overdosing

College students who seek help for substance use after an overdose face disciplinary action by their campus. A new California law, written in part by students themselves, will require public universities to offer rehabilitation services to students rather than discipline.

Alina Ta

Small bottles of a product labeled “feel free,” advertised for mood lift, energy, and focus, are displayed for sale inside a convenience store. A sign indicates the product costs $8.99 and must be purchased by customers age 21 or older.

Once given out at USC, this banned, opioid-like product is still cropping up in California

A drinkable product called Feel Free was once marketed to USC students as a wellness tonic. It contains an addictive, opioid-like ingredient called kratom leaf, now banned for sale by the California Department of Public Health but still available in many stores. A new bill in the Legislature would make the ban permanent in California.

Phoebe Huss

A person wearing a white sweater with blue stripes on the arm and a blue UCLA shirt underneath stands in a field near an apartment building, with tree branches poking into the background.

How college students can earn $10,000 for making a difference in CA communities

The popular College Corps program pays students up to $10,000 for community service work including tutoring incarcerated youth, assisting at food banks and more. The program is expanding from 45 to 52 campuses, adding hundreds of more students.

Brittany Oceguera

An illustration in green, red, blue and yellow tones that shows a desktop computer screen with an open window tab that resembles a Pokemon battle scene. At one end of the screen is a pixelated student and at the other is a wolf that represents a chatbot. The illustration includes a bubble text that reads "where can students get free food on campus?" alongside other bubbles of text with red exclamation points.

California colleges spend millions on faulty AI systems: ‘The chatbot is outdated’

Community colleges are spending millions on AI-powered chatbots that students say often give inaccurate answers. Many might see upgrades this year.

Martin Romero

A Sacramento Regional Transit bus arrives at Sacramento City College in Sacramento on Nov. 30, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

College Beat

California campuses try to lower college costs with free transit

Transit expenses are one part of the high cost of college that is pushing many low-income students out of the state’s higher education systems. Some campuses have partnered with local transit agencies to reduce or waive all fares for students, but recent efforts to create more partnerships with state funding have failed.

Carmen González

• January 5, 2023

Eli Erlick in her parents' backyard in Sebastopol on Dec. 26, 2022. Photo by Talia Herman for CalMatters.

College Beat

How new Title IX rules could affect California’s transgender and nonbinary students

New Title IX rules barring gender discrimination could put more responsibility on colleges to protect transgender and nonbinary students. But those students say creating welcoming campuses will require more than just policy.

Zaeem Shaikh

• December 30, 2022

College Beat

Colleges experiment with restorative justice in sexual assault cases

Some California colleges are responding to campus sexual assault and harassment with restorative justice: a process that brings together the student who was harmed, the person who harmed them and the community to seek solutions.

Oden Taylor

and

Felicia Mello

• December 28, 2022

Dennis Susan (left), a graduate student instructor at UC Berkeley, marches with UC academic workers through downtown Sacramento on Dec. 5, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

College Beat

During UC strike, professors take learning outside of the classroom

After tens of thousands of UC academic workers walked off the job last month – in what may be the largest strike in higher education history – professors and teaching assistants took class to the picket line. Students have made films about the strike, attended teach-ins about disability rights, and gotten crash courses in labor history. And some say it gave them a new perspective on how their university works.

Megan Tagami

• December 19, 2022

Allison Leggett, a fourth-year student at Charles Drew University, on campus in the Watts region of Los Angeles on Dec. 7, 2022. Photo by Lauren Justice for Cal Matters

College Beat

California’s only HBCU aims to solve Black doctor shortage

Charles Drew University, the only historically Black university in California, will launch a new MD program next year. The goal is to train more doctors of color to help underserved communities in a state where only 3% of physicians are Black.

Alyssa Story

• December 15, 2022

Joseph I. Castro, former Fresno State president, during a press conference in 2016. Castro became president of the California University System in 2013, but resigned earlier this year after accusations that he mishandled sexual harassment complaints against a university official while president at Fresno State. Photo by Silvia Flores, The Fresno Bee

College Beat

Ex-CSU chancellor Castro’s teaching job stirs controversy over ‘retreat rights’

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is facing backlash over the hiring of former Cal State Chancellor Joseph Castro for a faculty role. Castro resigned the chancellorship in February in the wake of a scandal over how he handled sexual harassment allegations against a top administrator.

Oden Taylor

• November 22, 2022

“La Memoria de la Tierra,” a mural created by Judith Baca, resides on the north side of Ackerman Union at UCLA in Los Angeles on Nov. 9, 2022. The mural is approximately 80 feet and made up of three 26-foot-long glass panels. Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

College Beat

Are California’s Hispanic Serving Institutions living up to their name?

California has the most Hispanic Serving Institutions among its colleges of any state — 174, including 21 of 23 California State University campuses and five of the nine University of California campuses. But how well are HSIs — where almost 90% of the state’s Latino undergraduates are enrolled — actually serving Latino students? It’s a mixed bag, students and advocates say.

Megan Tagami

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Matthew Reagan

• November 17, 2022

Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock

College Beat

Universities can’t yank financial aid from students who get private scholarships, new law says

California colleges often reduce financial aid to students when they earn private grants, a practice known as scholarship displacement. Students say it’s unfair to lose funds they’ve worked hard for and need to pay for soaring living costs. This year, the state agreed, and banned the practice for low-income students starting in the 2023-24 academic year.

Alyssa Story

• November 2, 2022

The UCLA campus in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2022. Photo by Raquel Natalicchio for CalMatters

College Beat

Central American Studies gains popularity on California campuses

California colleges are launching new classes and departments in Central American Studies, part of an increased focus on ethnic studies statewide. With California host to a quarter of the country's Central American population, Central American Studies scholars say it's about time.

Itzel Luna

• October 21, 2022

Students walk through campus at Sacramento City College on Feb. 23, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

College Beat

What California community college students want in a new chancellor

The search is underway for a new California Community Colleges chancellor. The CalMatters College Journalism Network asked students enrolled in the 1.8 million-student-strong system the qualities they believe are the most important in a chancellor.

Andrea Madison

• October 17, 2022

College Beat

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