California State University

Transit expenses are one part of the high cost of college that is pushing many low-income students out of the state’s higher education systems. Some campuses have partnered with local transit agencies to reduce or waive all fares for students, but recent efforts to create more partnerships with state funding have failed.

Some California colleges are responding to campus sexual assault and harassment with restorative justice: a process that brings together the student who was harmed, the person who harmed them and the community to seek solutions.

For almost nine years, Lorenzo Mays disappeared inside Sacramento County jail, charged with a murder he insists he didn’t commit. During that time, Mays was never brought to trial. He wasn’t allowed to leave. Instead, he remained in a kind of legal limbo, with most of his years spent in solitary confinement. The reason? Judges […]

California’s public university systems, often ranked among the best in the nation, symbolize the state’s opportunities — and can also serve as a microcosm of some of its most pervasive challenges, such as bridging economic and racial divides. Monday marked the start of the third week of strikes at all 10 University of California campuses, […]

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.

The College Journalism Network brings together student journalists from across the state to collaborate on group reporting projects, pitch and write stories for CalMatters and our media partners, and receive training.

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.

Remind me how that Beatles song goes… If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat If your debt is cleared, I’ll tax the relief Okay, maybe that’s not quite right, but it’s a fitting enough description of the legal conundrum the state of California and as many as 1.3 million indebted residents are now […]

The Cal State system graduates Black students at lower rates than other groups. Students, scholars and advocates say the reasons are myriad.