Higher Education

A close-up view of a table covered with colorful informational materials and stickers related to immigration services and campus organizations. In the center are square stickers for the Undocumented Community Center (UCC), featuring a stylized bird and wavy background. To the left is a pink and teal UCC hummingbird sticker, and to the right are College of San Mateo Bulldogs stickers. Various round buttons, brochures about free immigration legal services, and Spanish-language flyers are spread across the table.

Higher Education

Misinformation spreads as Trump moves to cut aid for some California students

The Trump administration is suing California, asking the state to end its policies allowing students without legal status to access in-state tuition and financial aid. But the administration's legal argument is weak, according to top legal experts.

By

Adam Echelman

and

Mikhail Zinshteyn

• November 26, 2025

A group of students marches down a campus walkway on a sunny day. Several wear red shirts with protest messages about tuition, holding signs and a megaphone. A few campus police officers on bicycles are visible to the right, and leafy trees surround the scene.

Higher Education

UC continues annual tuition hikes despite student appeals. Here’s how much it will increase

The model regents approved allows the system to increase undergraduate tuition and systemwide fees by as much as 5% annually, depending on inflation, and locks in that rate for students enrolling that year for up to six years.

By

Mikhail Zinshteyn

• November 19, 2025

The CSU Long Beach campus in Long Beach on April 24, 2024. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Higher Education

Cal State wants to offer bigger raises to campus presidents while cutting elsewhere

The current base pay for Cal State campus presidents ranges from $370,000 to more than $500,000.

By

Mikhail Zinshteyn

• November 18, 2025

People hold up various signs at a rally. One person holds a white sign that reads "I'd rather be in lab but the NIH cut my funding."

Higher Education

‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules

The judge has previously sided with UC scholars several times since June in halting Trump’s termination of science and health research funding. The latest ruling is arguably the most sweeping yet.

By

Mikhail Zinshteyn

• November 14, 2025

Students stand behind barricades on the left, facing a row of UC Berkeley campus police holding batons on the right.

Education

Turning Point tour ends with fights and arrests at UC Berkeley. Our student reporters were there

While protesters chanted against the conservative ideals of Turning Point USA, event attendees laughed and danced inside the hall of one of the most liberal universities in the nation.

By

Ella Carter-Klauschie

and

Chrissa Olson

• November 11, 2025

Two people — one wearing a light blue suit and the other wearing a gray blazer and orange blouse — sit in front of a blue table while smiling into the crowd.

Education

As tuition keeps increasing, UC students want a bigger say on the Board of Regents

Of the 26 UC Regents, one student position has voting power. A second student seat is a non-voting “designate.” To increase student representation, UC student leaders are pushing for the second seat to also have voting power.

By

Khadeejah Khan

and

Phoebe Huss

• November 11, 2025

A person wearing a white shirt points to a cheering crowd while holding red "Make American Great Again" hats with his other hand.

Education

How UC Berkeley is preparing for Turning Point’s final tour stop after Charlie Kirk’s death

UC Berkeley officials won’t divulge security plans but say they are prepared to host the conservative organization Turning Point USA on Nov. 10 after its founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated nearly two months ago at Utah Valley University.

By

Ella Carter-Klauschie

and

Martin Romero

• November 3, 2025

Volunteers sort through boxes of golden potatoes from a nearby conveyor belt.

Economy

‘I don’t know what we’re going to do.’ Californians fear loss of food aid as shutdown drags on

More than five million low-income Californians are expected to lose their CalFresh food assistance benefits starting Saturday. States are suing the Trump administration to reinstate aid.

By

,

,

and

• October 31, 2025

Economy

Half a million young Californians aren’t in school or work. Most are men

Thousands of men in California are neither working nor in school. Gov. Gavin Newsom has called it a “crisis,” both for the labor market and for men’s mental health.

By

Adam Echelman

• October 29, 2025

Students walk on a tree-lined road in the middle of a college campus on a rainy morning. One student, in the center of the frame, rides anelectric scooter.

Higher Education

A scholarship for Black California students has to accept white applicants. Here’s why

Students and a right-leaning nonprofit sued UC San Diego for allegedly supporting a scholarship fund for Black students. They cited the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act as evidence to support their case.

By

Adam Echelman

• October 20, 2025