California State University

Successive state audits of the University of California and the California State University found both systems have failed to comply with decades old state and federal laws mandating the return of Native ancestral remains and cultural artifacts, an act known as repatriation. Only UCLA and Cal State Long Beach have returned a majority of their collections back to local tribes.

While the UC and Cal State systems received more money in 2023, they still face financial challenges. And they also must address labor strife.

The California Faculty Association is seeking a 12% pay increase, while university officials counter with 5% in each of the next three years.

Cal State officials offered a 5% increase for each of the next three years, although those raises are not guaranteed. The union plans to strike at four campuses.

As electric bikes and scooters gain popularity among college students, California campuses vary over their regulation. The devices pose safety risks yet are cheaper, more convenient and better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles.

Signed by the governor in September 2022, AB 2881 aims to identify and address the needs of student parents in California by offering them priority registration. Coordinators and advocates are optimistic the law will formalize data collection, allowing them to better serve this student population that represents 1 in 5 students nationally.

In what it described as a “historic agreement,” the California Department of Managed Health Care announced Thursday that it has settled with Kaiser Permanente over the company’s failure to deliver adequate behavioral health care services to its patients.  The settlement, CalMatters’ health reporter Ana B. Ibarra writes, includes a $50 million fine (the department’s biggest […]

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu: Two Californians made history Tuesday in our nation’s capital — one starting a new job, the other losing theirs. Laphonza Butler took the oath of office as a U.S. senator, succeeding the late Dianne Feinstein and becoming the first Black and openly LGBTQ woman to serve in the […]

Student workers at the 23-campus system say their pay is low, their hours are restricted and they get no sick pay. They are hoping to join the employees union to fix that.

The legislative session that started Jan. 3 — and kept going and going, other than spring break and summer recess — is set to end tonight.  Lawmakers are wrapping up after numerous rallies by state workers and advocacy groups, countless committee hearings and floor debates and a leadership change in the Assembly. But they still […]