College Beat

Grief, fear, and hopes for peace: California college students describe campus climates during Israel-Palestine conflict

Students at university campuses throughout the state are coming together - many times at odds - in their demands for peace and justice between Israel and Palestine. Here is a look at how the divisions are impacting California college students.

By Haydee Barahona, Christopher Buchanan, Briana Mendez-Padilla, Jacqueline Munis, Hugo Rios and Amelia Wu

Students walk through the Fresno State campus in Fresno, on Feb. 9, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters

Cal State student workers get the OK to hold a union vote

Student workers at the 23-campus system say their pay is low, their hours are restricted and they get no sick pay. They are hoping to join the employees union to fix that.

By Helena San Roque

East Bay Consortium Financial Aid Program Coordinator Ruby de Anda Enriquez, right, speaks with a parent about grant options during a financial aid workshop at College Information Day at UC Berkeley in Berkeley on Oct. 14, 2023. The California Student Aid Commission held sessions on financial aid to help inform students and families about their different options. Photo by Juliana Yamada for CalMatters

California wants every high school senior to apply for student financial aid. Will a federal delay slow efforts?

A new California law required all high school seniors to complete a financial aid application last year, leading to a record number. Now, everyone’s waiting for the federal government to overhaul the online FAFSA application, which won’t be ready until December.

By Haydee Barahona and Li Khan

Elisa Arquieta at California State University Long Beach on Oct. 12, 2023. Arquieta is both a student and a parent. Photo by Lauren Justice for CalMatters

California colleges miss the deadline to offer student parents priority registration

Signed by the governor in September 2022, AB 2881 aims to identify and address the needs of student parents in California by offering them priority registration. Coordinators and advocates are optimistic the law will formalize data collection, allowing them to better serve this student population that represents 1 in 5 students nationally.

By Atmika Iyer and Briana Mendez-Padilla

Parker Tenove moved from Kansas to California to become part of the track and field program at El Camino College. When the coronavirus canceled the spring season, his plans fell apart. Photo courtesy of Parker Tenove

College Beat

Community colleges could see influx of athletes as coronavirus disrupts sports recruiting

Parker Tenove remembers looking at his track and field schedule for the 2020 spring season, marveling at the opportunity to run at competitions in California cities from Santa Monica to Bakersfield. He’d turned down scholarship offers from universities near his Kansas hometown to attend community college in Torrance, California, hoping the proximity to the state’s […]

By Omar Rashad • May 13, 2020

Amanda Reyes helps her kids Claudio, 13, and Evangelyn, 9, with their school work. Photo courtesy of Amanda Reyes

Higher Education

A new reality for student parents: Teaching their children’s classes while taking their own

Lee este artículo en español. Before the coronavirus, Katie Self’s days followed a predictable routine. At 5:00 a.m., she woke up her three children and got them ready for school. By 7:00 a.m., Self was hitting the books at Fresno City College, where she was studying to be a radiology technician. Classes and tutoring wrapped up […]

By Adria Watson • April 29, 2020

More than 500 students gathered at UC Davis to make demands of the administration and stand in solidarity with striking graduate student workers at UC Santa Cruz on February 21, 2020. The demonstration was one of many across UC campuses this week. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Higher Education

How do you hold a strike online? UC teaching assistants are finding out

Just a month ago, picket lines surrounded the base of the University of California at Santa Cruz campus, the halls of buildings filled with chants like “My neck, my back, the UC is wack.” The graduate student strike calling for a cost of living adjustment started in Santa Cruz but quickly sparked solidarity actions at […]

By Janelle Salanga • April 15, 2020

Timothy P. White, Chancellor of the California State University system, prepares to testify on the failure to fully disclose a $1.5 billion surplus in a joint hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit, Senate Education, Assembly Higher Education and Assembly subcommittee on Education Finance committees on August 12, 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Higher Education

How Cal State is navigating the coronavirus: Your questions answered

You’ve got questions about how your CSU education will be disrupted during the coronavirus pandemic. Chancellor Tim White has answers.

By Aidan McGloin • April 6, 2020

San Jose State University incoming freshman James Soberano, 17, plans to major in computer engineering and works in the student union on campus in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, July 25, 2019. Photo by Alison Yin for the Hechinger Report

Events

Is CSU ready for online learning? Watch our interview with Chancellor Tim White

Are you a college student whose semester has been turned upside down by the pandemic? Are you a professor who is getting acclimated to teaching your students via video conference? CalMatters College Journalism Network Editor Felicia Mello and fellow Aidan McGloin moderated a conversation with California State University Chancellor Tim White on April 2 to […]

By CalMatters • April 2, 2020

Higher Education

A’s for all? Universities debate how to grade during a pandemic

The coronavirus is disrupting college grading in California, as students stressed out from sheltering in place and transitioning to online classes push for schools to adopt flexible grading policies that account for the upheaval in their school year.

By Vanessa Arredondo • March 31, 2020

Laney College has cancelled all classes through April 6 in the wake of coronavirus concerns, while faculty train to teach online. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Higher Education

California colleges are going online. How ready are they?

California is about to embark on an enormous, unplanned experiment in remote learning — and no one knows how long it will last.

By Vanessa Arredondo, Felicia Mello and Janelle Salanga • March 17, 2020

College Beat

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