"In the 2007-2008 academic year, California did something it had not done since the 1980s: sent more college students out of state than it received from elsewhere.
For years, the Golden State’s public universities were a draw, offering a low-cost, high-quality education to its high school graduates and drawing talented people from other states and countries. With fees rising and student slots shrinking in the midst of the state budget crisis, some worry that a process that has helped boost California’s economy will reverse itself -- and do so at a time when the state’s economy needs more educated workers than ever.
“Absolutely the state is moving in the wrong direction in terms of closing the education skills gap,” said Hans Johnson, a demographer with the Public Policy Institute of California."
Last month, the University of California (UC) regents voted to raise fees by 32 percent, to $10,302 a year for in-state students, in the wake of a $1.2 billion cut in state support to the system. The California State University system saw a $564 million cut, forcing widespread layoffs and reduction of 40,000 students for the coming year.
These changes, in turn, have caused a logjam in the California Community Colleges system — both in terms of new admissions, and students trying to transfer a two-year degree to a four-year school.
“As the other two segments also are stressed, people who would otherwise go to UC or CSU also turn to community colleges,” said Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City. On Monday, Ruskin is convening a joint panel that will review the master plan for California’s higher education systems.
Four-year schools have been making it harder to transfer, including recent changes to give preference to students from community colleges closer to their home campuses. The UC and CSU systems have been raising the GPA needed to get into certain programs and campuses--especially crowded CSUs like San Diego, Pomona, Long Beach and Fullerton--according to Rita Mize, director of state policy and research with Community College League.
Meanwhile, other higher education systems are pursuing California students.