Garamendi as a Regent: Why Education Funding is Critical to Improving California’s Future Workforce and Economy

“In the fall of 2009, the largest freshman class in California’s history is expected to enter our colleges and universities. Right now students are turning in their applications with high hopes,” Garamendi said. “But the admissions door is already closing. The proposed cuts and tuition hikes (taxes on students) will make it even harder for them to go to college. If we are to meet their high hopes of a college education, we need to invest in them now.”

The California State Trustees will meet November 18-19 at California State University Long Beach. The University of California regents will meet November 18-20 at the University of California San Francisco Mission Bay Community Center.

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) recently released a new survey showing the state’s higher education systems receiving high marks for quality, but also college cost and a lack of government funding as top issues.

At a time when the state’s economic crisis is deepening and the financial fortunes of many families have worsened, Californians see higher education as important to the futures of their own children and to the state. They are concerned that college is affordable neither for their own families nor for others.

Most parents of children ages 18 and younger (71%) say that students have to borrow too much money to go to college, and most are very or somewhat worried (72%) about their own ability to afford a college education for their youngest child. A majority of Californians (59%) and residents across regional and demographic groups say that qualified students from low-income families have less opportunity than others to get a college education.

“Californians’ belief in the importance of higher education is strong, and their regard for the state’s educational system is high — but their trust in state leadership is low,” says Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO.

With an economic crisis affecting family finances, the availability of student loans, and state funding for public higher education, college costs are on the minds of Californians. An overwhelming majority (84%) say affordability is somewhat of a problem (32%) or a big problem (52%).

Most Californians favor proposals that would make higher education more affordable. Asked about specific alternatives, overwhelming majorities favor expanding work-study opportunities (88%), increasing money for scholarships (83%), and establishing a sliding scale for tuition and fees (70%).

Read the full PPIC report here.

Randy Bayne is Chair of the Amador County Democratic Party. This article originally appeared in The Bayne of Blogs and is published with the permission of the author.