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.
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.
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.
College Beat is produced by the CalMatters College Journalism Network (CJN), a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. Our mission: to elevate student voices in California higher education coverage, provide high-quality training to student journalists, and help diversify the state’s news media.
APPLY NOW: Applications are now open for the 2026-27 cohort of our College Journalism Network fellowship. Learn more and apply here.
Join our newsletter: Are you a college journalist looking for training opportunities? Sign up for our monthly newsletter here to receive invitations for our monthly virtual seminars and updates on our college journalism programs.
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’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.
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.
Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based coalition, has recorded nearly 7,000 hate incidents involving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s become a key source of information for the media and for advocates looking to stop the surge of racist attacks.
At least six Cal State campuses and nearly all of the University of California campuses have created esports programs since 2015, in which students host and compete in live tournaments, sometimes funded by corporate sponsors.
Lea este artículo en español. Marie Manipud didn’t expect that her college graduation would be much of an event. The UC San Diego public health major had immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines at 14, becoming the first in her family to navigate the American education system. As a first generation college student, she saw […]
The chair of the University of California board of regents said Wednesday he’s open to considering dramatic cuts in the number of armed, sworn police officers across the university system. The comments by Regent John Pérez came during a panel on the future of campus policing co-hosted by CalMatters and KQED, in which the UC […]
Shae Hammond, a senior at California State University Northridge, was relaxing on her front porch after returning from a weekend camping trip in September when she got an unexpected text from her roommate, Jen Martinez. Martinez’s boyfriend — who had recently been in the women’s apartment — had contracted COVID-19. The first thing to run […]
In the wake of nationwide protests against racism and police brutality, colleges and universities are taking a hard look at their own policing practices. University of California student activists are calling for UCs to abolish or reshape their in-house police departments, and the Peralta Community College District recently voted to end its contract with the […]