Visit our new and updated website where you will find the latest information on higher education in California along with updates on our activities, coalition building efforts, policy priorities and a new blog.   

The blog will feature staff and guest bloggers writing on timely and relevant topics in higher education in California.  Our first guest blogger, Steve Boilard, shares his thoughts on the current budget crisis and the implications for higher education in California.  We encourage you to read his blog and share your thoughts on it.    

We are also featuring a piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education about the future of Pell Grants by Dr. Michelle Asha Cooper, President of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. 

Is there a topic you would like to see covered on the blog?   Email us at info@collegecampaign.org.

Speaking of the California budget and funding for higher education...

ACTION ALERT REMINDER: California's community colleges and universities are facing $1.4 billion in drastic cuts to their funding in the Governor's proposed budget.  Governor Brown's budget is a balanced approach that includes cuts and tax extensions that must be placed on the ballot for voter approval in a June special election.  If the initiatives fail to be put on the ballot or are rejected by voters, this will mean even deeper cuts to higher education significantly limiting college access and impacting the quality of our higher education system.  In order to prevent further devastating cuts to higher education, The Campaign for College Opportunity strongly supports the five year tax extensions.

Join us in urging your legislators to support the Governor's proposal and put the tax extensions on the ballot in June; California's future depends upon it!

EARLY COMMITMENT TO COLLEGE
LAUNCHED IN LAUSD 

On Monday, March 14, Early Commitment to College (ECC) was launched at Gage Middle School in Los Angeles Unified School District with incoming Superintendent John Deasy, School Board President Monica Garcia, School Board Member Yolie Flores, and representatives from the offices of Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, and Senator Ron Calderon. 

ECC is the result of legislation proposed by The Campaign for College Opportunity in 2008, SB 890, under then-Senator Jack Scott and is a tool for California school districts with the greatest levels of poverty to motivate and support young people in middle school and high school to understand the opportunities available for them to pursue a higher education and access financial aid.  ECC has now been implemented in 119 school districts statewide, helping tens of thousands of students understand that they can go to college and the steps that they need to take to get there.  A special thanks to the State Street Bank Foundation which provided $2,500 in scholarships and to Citi, whose giving has supported implementation efforts.

The Campaign for College is one of 60 national partners for Excelencia in Education's collaborative project, the Roadmap for Ensuring America's Future.  This tool is meant to stimulate and facilitate dialogue in communities across the nation about action needed to increase degree attainment generally, and Latino degree attainment specifically.

"Business and civic leaders across California understand that we need one million additional college graduates by 2025 to meet the workforce demands of the future and ensure the state's economic prosperity.  The Roadmap for Ensuring America's Future will help guide us toward that goal."

- Michele Siqueiros, Executive Director,
Campaign for College Opportunity

The Facts:

• Latino students are more likely to be non-traditional students, so state and institutional initiatives that focus on those students can make a big difference
• Colleges and universities should focus on policies that increase retention for working students in good standing, increase early college high schools and dual enrollment programs, and guarantee need-based aid for qualified students.
• Community leaders can do more to inform parents and family members about the pathway to college and to engage their community in supporting college access and degree attainment.
• Historically, the federal government has focused on college access and opportunity through financial aid (Pell grants and Stafford Loans) and support programs (e.g., GEAR Up and TRIO). However, for America to lead the world in college degrees, the federal government must also focus on college retention and degree attainment.

Excelencia in Education also has a database called Growing What Works that highlights programs that have proven to be effective in improving Latino student success.  Check out exceptional programs in California.