College Beat

Asylum seekers going to college in California can pay much higher nonresident tuition and are often excluded from financial aid, at great cost to them and their families as immigration cases spend years in limbo.

California State University’s $17 million contract with ChatGPT’s maker OpenAI is up for renewal. Some students and faculty say equal access to AI is important for preparing students for the workforce. Others say the implementation of AI tools has been confusing and opens the door to cheating. Some faculty have banned AI from their classes altogether and even started a petition to end the contract deal.

Over 250 college students spent a day lobbying at the California Capitol recently, holding over 100 meetings with state leaders and their staff. The students are backing several bills aimed at increasing basic needs support, including one to streamline CalFresh applications and another to reform the process for building student housing. They also are leading the push to add more student voting power to the UC Board of Regents.

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.

Community colleges are spending millions on AI-powered chatbots that students say often give inaccurate answers. Many might see upgrades this year.

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.

California spent $31 million last year helping students facing homelessness with emergency housing and other services through Rapid Rehousing. The program operates at most public universities and about a quarter of community colleges, helping thousands of students who are either homeless or housing insecure, such as one student who was sleeping in a garage.

Local police forces get money every year from the Department of Homeland Security to assist with border patrol operations. This includes the UC San Diego Police Department, which helps monitor for smuggling along the coastline.

Faculty representation at Cal State is lagging far behind the growing number of Latino students. That burdens the small circles of Latino faculty who take on more mentorship tasks, many times in non-tenure positions and for lower pay.