Education

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.

With a conservative Supreme Court expected to rule this summer in favor of ending or restricting affirmative action in college admissions, California’s private universities are worried about the potential impact on campus diversity. College administrators are revamping admissions and doing more high school outreach, while student activists are campaigning against a potential ban.

Workers who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic and are enrolling in a college program have until June 15 to apply for a California relief grant to receive up to $2,500 as state lawmakers seek to cut programs to plug a budget hole.

Proposed budget cuts stemming from California’s budget deficit mean community colleges may be unable to do things like improve AC, heating, safety upgrades or follow through on promises about major programs and infrastructure projects.

A new analysis shows that the California State University system doesn’t make or receive enough money to cover its costs, even with state support. The report and lawmakers urge the system to increase tuition, but even that might not be enough.

Under his May budget plan, Newsom wants the UC and CSU to get more state student housing in 2023-24, but the universities would have to borrow the money through bonds. The state would pay the interest on the bonds annually. Legislative analysts say the state may be overcommitting given far lower projected tax revenues.

The UC Student Association is calling for California to spend millions more on disability services at the university, as disabled students report long wait times to access the academic accommodations they say they need to succeed. On some campuses, students say they have waited months for accommodations — such as recorded lectures and extra time for assignments — to be approved by university disability specialists, who are responsible for as many as 600 students at a time.

As the state moves to require dyslexia screening in public schools, experts say teachers need to embrace the “science of reading” approach that emphasizes phonics.

Newsom is closing and downsizing prisons across the state, putting the future of over a thousand incarcerated students at risk. College administrators say they have few resources to help.