| higher education |
State Budget Cuts Hurt UC
A series of reports examining the California State University (CSU) system issued by Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles' co-directors Gary Orfield and Patrica Gándara indicate that barriers to college from state budget cuts are growing. Because CSU is essential to earning a college degree for the majority of Latino, African American, and American Indian students in the state, many civil rights implications arise from the funding cuts.
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A survey of students at the Northridge campus shows widespread family distress, tremendous pressure on students struggling to meet rising costs, and the loss of a year or more in completing their studies because of the lack of key classes.
Faculty report feeling intense pressure from larger classes, do more with less support, worry about students desperate for classes, are unable to carry out research, limit their professional activities, and have widespread pessimism about the future of CSU. Most of California's Latino and African American students attend weak segregated high schools, have little information about college and often need remediation, yet critical services such as outreach, counseling and remediation are being substantially cut back.
Budget cuts for 2011 to CSU campuses, the state's largest university system, total $500 million. With 37,511,000 residents, this cut will save every resident in the state an average of $13.33 during the year, or $39.65 per household.
"There is no balancing of costs and benefits in this situation. For this trivial amount of money, the state is drastically shrinking opportunity to college," suggested Professor Orfield. A statement by Orfield elaborating on the issue is available on his blog on the Huffington Post.
"Short-sighted policies mean California is eating its seed corn, cutting off access to college, in a state already projected to be short a million college graduates needed for its future labor market," stated Professor Gándara.
Various scholars and researchers affiliated with the Civil Rights Project contributed to the series of eight reports, issued as a single 191-page document. More information is also available at the Civil Rights Project.
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