A new report recommends an overhaul of California’s public higher education systems, EdSource report.
The University of California, California State University and California Community College programs should merge, according to the report the Civil Rights Project at UCLA and California Competes, a research and advocacy organization focused on California and workforce development.
The author of the report, California Competes CEO Su Jin Jez, argues that the state’s Higher Education Plan of 1960, which defines the roles of these three programs, is outdated and fails to meet the needs of today’s students. Under the original plan, the UC program was intended to focus on conducting research and teaching the top eight high school graduates, while the CSU program focused on the undergraduate education of the top three high school students and community colleges that adopted an “open-access education” mission.
But the lines between their roles have blurred, their interactions with each other “weakened” and students have become more diverse, “requiring a more flexible, equitable, and student-centered higher education system,” the report reads. It proposes that the three programs become a single University of California system, a “cohesive network of regional campuses” that all offer a full range of course offerings, from certificates to doctoral programs. Each state district will have a multi-site University of California campus.
“This new arrangement eliminates transfer issues, reduces competition for resources, and provides students with seamless pathways to college and careers,” according to the report.
Patricia Gándara and Gary Orfield, co-directors of the Civil Rights Project, agree in a preliminary report that the new program will be difficult to introduce and will require a large increase in federal funding. But it is intended to jump start the necessary conversation, they say.
“Obviously, any changes to a large and complex system face significant challenges, but there is growing agreement that change is urgently needed if the state is to sustain its economy and effectively educate a changing population,” he wrote.
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