Higher Education

After tens of thousands of UC academic workers walked off the job last month – in what may be the largest strike in higher education history – professors and teaching assistants took class to the picket line. Students have made films about the strike, attended teach-ins about disability rights, and gotten crash courses in labor history. And some say it gave them a new perspective on how their university works.

Teams of striking UC graduate student workers are willingly getting arrested in acts of civil disobedience. They view the strategy as a way to escalate their work stoppage, now in its fifth week.

Charles Drew University, the only historically Black university in California, will launch a new MD program next year. The goal is to train more doctors of color to help underserved communities in a state where only 3% of physicians are Black.

For years, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has enrolled the smallest percentage of Black students among all campuses in the California State University and University of California systems. Although it’s difficult to pinpoint the reason, the campus attracts few freshman applicants and transfer students, and students describe a racist environment.

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.