California students can all get an education – but at what cost
SAN DIEGO – Associated Press
For most of history, higher education has been reserved for a tiny elite. For a glimpse of a future where college is open to all, visit California – the place that now comes closest to that ideal.
California’s community college system is the country’s largest, with 109 campuses, 4,600 buildings and a staggering 2.5 million students. It’s also cheap. While it’s no longer free, anyone can take a class, and at about $500 per term full-time, the price is a fraction of any other state’s.
These days, states around the country are wrestling with how to provide mass scale higher education – a challenge California anticipated decades ago. But if California is a model in one way, it’s struggling in another.
The state ranks near the top in terms of getting students in the door of higher education. But its batting average moving them out – either with a degree or by transferring to a four-year school – ranks near the bottom.
“In 1960 or 1970 or 1980, access was enough,” said Nancy Shulock, of the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Cal State Sacramento. “But it’s not enough now.” California has always been at the forefront of making college affordable.
Today, the state has three tiers of higher education: the University of California for the top students; the Cal State universities for the next level; and the open-access third tier that came to be called community colleges.
Community college students can work their way into the four-year schools, and it’s a cheaper path to a bachelor’s degree. Last year, more than half of CSU graduates – and nearly one-third of UC grads – started at a community college.
If students can attend full-time, they are four times as likely to complete as part-timers. But only 29 percent of California students can attend full-time. That’s 12 percentage points below the national community college figure.
