Education

A budget deal between lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsmon includes $227 million more for the state’s Middle Class Scholarship, part of a commitment to eventually remove any reason for public university students to borrow loans. The revised program debuted last year, sending an average of nearly $2,000 to 300,000 students.

Breaking from over a decade of traditionally not raising tuition for its students, Cal State leaders on Thursday released a proposal that would start annual increases in fall 2024. They say it’s the only way to make up a shortfall between operating costs and revenues.

Advocates supporting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to a high-quality education say they want to hold schools accountable. But critics fear its vague language could unleash a barrage of lawsuits.

Though voters soundly rejected an effort to legalize affirmative action in California in 2020, state Democrats are trying again, proposing a limited version that would allow state agencies to consider race if academic research shows evidence those race-based programs could work. Familiar political battle lines are forming.

Community colleges saw record declines in enrollment during the pandemic, but students 50 years and older fell the farthest. Now, some colleges are trying to reel them back in.

In rural and conservative-leaning towns and cities across California, LGBTQ+ student groups are small in number and face homophobic and transphobic incidents on and off campus. Some help is on the way.

While some California college professors remain concerned about students using generative AI such as ChatGPT to cheat in class, a growing number are choosing to encourage its limited use in classroom assignments. From analyzing films to writing research proposals, the assignments seek to convey the benefits of AI as a research tool while acknowledging its limitations and propensity for error.

Teacher turnover is high at schools with large numbers of students living in poverty. Now California is pouring billions of dollars into two programs: One subsidizes college students in credentialing programs and the other offers money to districts that want to create community schools.

Last year, California created a $500 million program to help prepare students for careers. With the state facing a $31.5 billion budget deficit, lawmakers want to claw back $400 million of the program.

What should I do if college isn’t for me? We tackle that question in this installment of our ‘Ask CJN’ column, in which student journalists answer readers’ questions about California higher education. One option for those eschewing college: apprenticeships, which often offer a living wage and a guaranteed job upon completion.