US: Re-imagining California higher education

A report from the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley, has analysed the challenges faced by tertiary education in California and its relationship to economic growth - and proposes some radical solutions for rejuvenating a faltering public higher education system that was once the envy of the world.

California now ranks among the bottom 10 states in the US for access to higher education and in degree completion rates.

Struggling to respond to its current status, public higher education in the state is facing off against other highly publicised challenges, including the impact of the current economic crisis and the increasingly predatory recruitment strategies of the for-profit sector.

CSHE senior research associate and author of Re-imagining California Higher Education John Aubrey Douglass attempts to re-imagine a network of state-funded colleges and universities.

The report also provides a plan for so-called 'smart growth', which Douglass says can help the system recapture its vanguard position in supporting and innovating top-notch developments for mass higher education.

In addition to offering greater institutional diversity and mission differentiation to the state-wide University of California (UC), regionally-oriented California State University (CSU) and local California Community College (CCC) systems, the report encourages the state to set realistic educational attainment goals.

Shifting more students into UC and CSU institutions would be part of the realisation of this goal. But perhaps more radical would be the reorganisation of the community college system, designating a key number as four-year degree-granting institutions and creating a 'gap year' programme to better prepare post-secondary students for tertiary education.

The report also proposes the development of a new polytechnic sector and an online distance learning system. The former would increase the supply of talent in technology and applied fields, while the latter would target mature students for extended learning and retraining purposes.

It also considers the importance of developing a new funding model to address the issue of infrastructure growth and investment. Measures such as soaring tuition fee hikes or faculty furloughs are simply not enough to absorb the billions of dollars in public funding cuts that have been implemented since 2008, according to the report.

In this regard, Douglass underscores the crucial importance of attracting international students. He says they will be able to both generate income for the system and bring top talent to the state.

The report concludes by emphasising the importance of positioning the federal government as a more engaged partner with the state, revisiting 1960s higher education programmes that responded to expansion and provided meaningful financial aid funding.

Comment:
There are many things to question about this article which seems to begin with the premise that if we just make modest changes to the way California has done things for the last couple of decades (where our position of leadership has diminished) that we will be successful in reinvigorating higher education.

Perhaps the biggest gap is the complete ignorance of the independent sector, which currently is larger than the University of California. A more creative approach would be to look at how each of the parts of the higher education system in the state could be put to better use.

First and foremost would be to devise a rational fee policy for the three public segments and to assure that students with financial need have the opportunity to attend college. At the same time we have to better coordinate the transition from high school to college.

Jonathan Brown,
President,
The Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities