The California Master Plan at 50: The Big Picture � The Quick and the Ed

The California Master Plan at 50: The Big Picture � The Quick and the Ed

The California Master Plan at 50: The Big Picture

by Chad Aldeman

On April 26, 1960 the California Legislature signed into law the California Master Plan for Higher Education. Read a brief history of the Plan, how it intersects with the SAT and affirmative action, how the transfer function is failing, and how better coordination is needed.

California is a state of extremes when it comes to educational attainment. It ranks near the top of the states in the percentage of adults with bachelor’s degree or higher, but it is also the state with the highest proportion of adults with less than an eighth-grade education.
In the middle part of the 1900s, up until about 1970, California’s growth was driven by migration from other states. Many of these immigrants were well-educated. In 1960, 66 percent of all college graduates living in the state of California had earned their degrees in other American states. By 2005, that percentage had fallen in halfand the net domestic migration of college graduates fell below zero for the first time in decades.
Meanwhile, foreign-born college graduates filled up nearly all of this slack. Contrary to popular belief, immigrants to California, both foreign and domestic, have actually helped make the state more educated. This has been improving over time. The percentage of recent international immigrants with college degrees increased from 18 percent in 1985-1990 to 33 percent by 2000-2005.
Still, projections on California’s workforce needs in 2020 predict that the state will need to increase college graduates by 15-20 percent, on top of in-migration and existing educational opportunities, in order to meet