Capital Finance an Important Piece of the Puzzle for California’s Higher Education Goals
December 13, 2017
New Report – Paying for Space: A Brief Framing the Issues and Opportunities in Capital Finance for Higher Education in California The debate about how much it will cost to ensure that California’s public higher education systems can meet all students’ needs often focuses on the funds needed for regular operations—items like employee salaries, benefits,…
California’s Public Universities Need Shared Metrics for Better Understanding and Decision-Making
November 15, 2017
Recent public opinion research shows an alarming trend of growing public mistrust of our nation’s colleges and universities—a mistrust sparked by increases in tuitions and the perception of eroding value of higher education. California is not immune to this problem; research by the David Binder group for College Futures Foundation in particular has found growing…
Predictable Tuition Costs Would Help Families and Universities Plan for the Future
May 24, 2017
By Darcie Harvey As any parent with teenagers knows, paying for college is hard and the nagging worry of “do I have enough saved” fuels many sleepless nights. Recently, there has been heightened public dialogue about the price of public higher education and some states are exploring alternative tuition policies, including free college. However, what…
Why Do Metrics Matter?
May 23, 2017
By Darcie Harvey Nothing seems to make eyes glaze over faster than the discussion of measurement and data metrics. For someone working outside the world of data this topic can appear dry and technical; however, metrics are crucial to our basic understanding of how our public institutions of higher education are funded, whether students are…
Getting Off the Higher Education Finance See-Saw
May 17, 2017
By Jane Wellman A college education is one of the best investments a California family can make. A diploma from one of our public universities remains one of the greatest opportunities many families have to make a good living and contribute to a prosperous future. Many people are rightly concerned that this opportunity is increasingly…
Better Higher Education Budgeting for Student Access and Success
May 17, 2017
Are 1960s-era state-agency budgeting practices hobbling smarter decisions that could make room for California’s next generation of students? Higher education finance in California needs to be reformed, and reforming the way budgets are built is a good place to start. Despite huge changes in revenues, student populations, and demand since the Master Plan for Higher…