Higher Education

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

California’s community colleges aren’t on track to reach ambitious goals of closing the gaps in graduation rates between racial and ethnic groups. Its central office leaders doubt they’ll reach those goals, including new ones laid out by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

California’s estimated 75,000 undocumented students don’t qualify for federal work-study or most job opportunities, and often struggle to make ends meet. A new state service program launched last week, College Corps, will give hundreds of them as much as $10,000 per year to perform community service in areas including K-12 education, food insecurity and climate action.

The University of California aims to ease the transition from community college to university with a new dual admission pilot program launching this spring. High school graduates will be accepted simultaneously to a community college and nearby UC, with access to libraries and counseling on the UC campus. The program, however, excludes UC’s most selective campuses.

When Laura Swartzen saw the email from Sacramento State University’s Title IX office, it felt like her heart skipped a beat.  Swartzen, the Sac State confidential campus advocate, had spent the past nine months supporting a student who reported being sexually assaulted. Swartzen had listened to the student’s wrenching account, offered to connect them with […]

A last-minute bill would have forced Cal State to give non-faculty staff raises, costing the system almost $900 million over ten years — money the system says it doesn’t have.