Education

The 2025-26 Budget: Community College Facilities

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March 18, 2025 - This post assesses the Governor’s proposals to fund community college capital outlay projects under Proposition 2, the new education facilities bond.

The 2025-26 Budget: College of the Law, San Francisco

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March 10, 2025 - This brief analyzes the Governor’s budget proposals for College of the Law, San Francisco (CLSF). In 2025‑26, CLSF would receive $101 million in total core funding, reflecting a $15 million (17 percent) increase from 2024‑25. Both of CLSF’s main sources of core funding would increase, with tuition revenue projected to increase $4.3 million (7.8 percent) and state General Fund proposed to increase $11 million (40 percent).

The 2025-26 Budget: California State Library

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March 7, 2025 - In this post, we provide background on the State Library and analyze the Governor's budget proposals.

The 2025-26 Budget: California Community Colleges

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March 5, 2025 - This brief analyzes the Governor’s budget proposals for the California Community Colleges. It covers apportionments, enrollment growth, and various other ongoing and one-time proposals.

The 2025-26 Budget: California Student Aid Commission

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February 28, 2025 - In this brief, we provide an update on Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship cost estimates, as well as analyze the Governor’s budget proposals for California College of the Arts and California Student Aid Commission’s state operations.

The 2025-26 Budget: University of California

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February 27, 2025 - In this brief, we analyze the state’s budget plan relating to UC’s core operations and enrollment.

The 2025-26 Budget: Higher Education Overview

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February 6, 2025 - In this brief, we provide an overview and initial analysis of the Governor’s higher education budget plan.

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

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January 13, 2025 - Update (1/16/25): A set of tables detailing various solutions and proposals has been appended to the online version of this report. They are available using the HTML link above.

On January 10, 2025, Governor Newsom’s administration presented its proposed state budget to the California Legislature. In this report, we provide a brief summary of the Governor’s budget based on our initial review as of January 12. In the coming weeks, we will analyze the plan in more detail and release many additional issue-specific budget analyses. For those additional analyses, please see our budget page.

Trends in Higher Education: Faculty and Staff

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December 4, 2024 - This brief is the fifth of a six-part series covering higher education trends in California. This brief focuses on the higher education workforce and how it has changed over time. The brief tracks changes in the number of faculty and staff, their demographic composition, compensation, recruitment, and retention. The brief also raises key issues for the Legislature to consider as it makes related policy and budget decisions.

CalFacts 2024

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December 2, 2024 - CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state's economy, finances, and programs.

The 2025‑26 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

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November 20, 2024 - In this report, we provide our estimates of the guarantee and analyze the implications for school and community college budgeting.

UC Merced at 20: Campus Developments and Key State-Level Takeaways

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November 7, 2024 - Beginning operations 20 years ago, the University of California (UC) Merced has grown to a campus of approximately 9,100 students and 2,500 faculty, staff, and student employees. In this report, we explore major campus developments related to UC Merced's enrollment, student outcomes, faculty and staff, facilities, and finance. We then assess the extent to which UC Merced has fulfilled certain key objectives, including raising educational and economic outcomes in the San Joaquin Valley. We conclude the report by identifying key state-level takeaways from the UC Merced experience that could help inform the Legislature as it undertakes future higher education planning.

The 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Higher Education

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September 11, 2024 - This post summarizes the state’s 2024-25 spending package for higher education. It is part of our Spending Plan series. In this post, we provide a short overview of the state’s higher education spending package, then cover spending for the California Community Colleges (CCC), California State University (CSU), University of California (UC), student financial aid, and California State Library. The EdBudget part of our website contains many tables providing more detail about the 2024-25 education budget.

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

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July 1, 2024 - Due to legislation enacted a decade ago, the availability of postsecondary courses at state prisons has expanded significantly. In this report, we focus on California Community College programs at state prisons. After providing background on these programs, we cover trends in student outcomes and explain how these programs are funded. We then assess the strengths and weaknesses of these programs and make several recommendations aimed at improving them.

Trends in Higher Education: Finance

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May 9, 2024 - This brief is the fourth of a six-part series covering higher education trends in California. The fourth brief focuses on higher education finance and how it has changed over the past few decades. The brief also raises key issues for the Legislature to consider as it makes related policy and budget decisions.