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Articles by Michael Burke Edsource
Lawmakers look to settle turf war over community college bachelor’s degrees
It soon could become much easier for California community colleges to create new bachelor’s degree programs. The state’s community colleges, which primarily offer certificates and two-year associate degrees, are permitted to create bachelor’s degrees that fill workforce needs, but existing law allows them to do so only if they don’t duplicate what’s offered at California’s four-year universities.
UCLA pushes for $12 billion research bond to counter federal cuts
David Boyer is stuck in a waiting game. For more than 18 months, silence from the National Institutes of Health on a crucial grant decision has thrown his research developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease into uncertain territory. His application received a favorable impact score, the main metric used for NIH funding decisions, so the postdoctoral scholar at UCLA figured he would hear good news by spring of 2025. Instead, he has heard nothing.
California supervisor hopefuls detail plans at candidate forums
The top candidates vying to be California’s next superintendent of public instruction took the stage for two virtual forums this week, detailing how they would handle achievement gaps, artificial intelligence concerns, LGBTQ+ protections and more. Six candidates participated in the forums hosted by EdSource, about six weeks before voters will go to the polls for the June 2 primary election. Whoever wins the position will help shape the future of nearly 6 million students in California.
Community colleges OK 3 new bachelor’s degrees
Moorpark College in Ventura County will offer a program in cyberdefense. At San Diego Mesa College, students will be able to get a degree as a physical therapy assistant. And at Southwestern College in San Diego County, students can study urban planning in the CaliBaja region and earn a degree in transborder environmental design. Those are among the newly approved bachelor’s degree programs at California community colleges — despite objections from California State University to all three degrees.
Community College board to discuss bachelor's degrees amid CSU objections
The board of governors overseeing California's 116 community colleges next week is expected to discuss proposed bachelor's degrees that have been blocked by California State University. The board is scheduled to meet Tuesday in Sacramento. The meeting agenda includes a discussion item on the system's baccalaureate degree program.
International student numbers drop
New international students enrolling at U.S. colleges declined sharply this fall, a concerning development for universities that rely on those students for research, tuition revenue and the diversity they bring to campus culture. It could, however, create more space for U.S. residents at those campuses.
University of California no longer to require diversity statements in hiring
The University of California will no longer require diversity statements for faculty applicants, university leaders announced. The change comes as the Trump administration has threatened to withhold funding from universities that have programs or initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Many UC academic departments and programs for years have required applicants seeking faculty positions to describe how they have or would contribute to campus diversity, such as racial diversity.
University of California enrolls more California residents
The University of California increased enrollment of undergraduates who are California residents by 3,910 students in fall 2024, a 2% rise over fall 2023, according to data the system released Tuesday. That was despite a small decline in the number of new California freshmen. In total, the system enrolled 198,718 California undergraduates, a new record.
University of California bans encampments, imposes protest rules
The University of California and California State University are welcoming student activists back to campus this fall with revamped protest rules that signal a harder line on encampments, barriers and, under certain circumstances, the wearing of face masks. Cal State, the nation’s largest public university system, was first to issue its policy Thursday, a bundle of restrictions that govern public assemblies on university campuses.
University of California won’t allow hiring of undocumented students
The University of California will not allow the hiring of undocumented students for jobs on its campuses, disappointing students who pushed for the right to be employed without legal status. Allowing those students to work campus jobs would have been “the right thing to do” but presented too many legal risks and thus was “not viable,” said Michael Drake, the system’s president, while addressing UC’s board of regents Thursday. Drake cited several possible legal ramifications.
Why enrollment is rebounding at California’s community colleges
After years of pandemic declines, enrollment at California’s community colleges may finally be starting to rebound in a significant way. Several colleges across the state, from San Diego to San Jose, are reporting that their enrollments are up by double-digit percentages this fall. Statewide data for the fall isn’t yet available, but enrollment in the spring was up 8% across the system of 116 colleges, according to a memo prepared by the state chancellor’s office.
Student leaders, Lt Gov urge Cal State to put off voting on tuition increase
California State University should delay voting on a proposed tuition increase and potentially reconsider the idea, California Lt. Gov Eleni Kounalakis and student leaders urged Friday. Kounalakis, who sits on CSU’s board of trustees, met privately with students at Cal State Los Angeles, where they strategized over how to move forward as CSU trustees appear ready to approve annual tuition increases of 6% at their next meeting in September.
Transferring from California community colleges? It’s a tough road, EdSource survey finds
Jacob Beeman’s transfer goals were pushed back by about a year because he was taking the wrong community college classes to transfer. “I had been jumping through all these hoops to try and get the right classes I needed to transfer and going off the advice of people who I trusted to know what they were doing,” he said.
After Supreme Court ruling, University of California to 'share expertise' on life without affirmative action
With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday that race-conscious admissions are unlawful, colleges and universities across the country hoping to enroll diverse student bodies will need to turn to different strategies to do so. For ideas, those institutions could look to California, where public colleges haven't considered race in admissions since voters in 1996 approved a ballot measure banning it.
California community colleges to have hard time meeting transfer goals
Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Without significant changes to the transfer process, California's community college system will struggle to meet its own goals for transferring students to the state's public universities, the system's interim chancellor said Monday. Interim Chancellor Daisy Gonzales told the system's board of governors that in 2022, the number of California community college students earning an associate degree for transfer declined by about 4,600 students.
State’s community college transfers facing challenges
Without significant changes to the transfer process, California’s community college system will struggle to meet its own goals for transferring students to the state’s public universities, the system’s interim chancellor said Monday. Interim Chancellor Daisy Gonzales told the system’s board of governors that in 2022, the number of California community college students earning an associate degree for transfer declined by about 4,600 students.
Trinity College Dublin to take Berkeley name off library; UC Berkeley has no plans to change its name
Trinity College Dublin, a university in Ireland, will remove the name Berkeley from its main library on campus, The New York Times reported. The university concluded that George Berkeley, for whom the library is named, owned slaves in colonial Rhode Island, according to the Times. UC Berkeley was also named for the 18th-century philosopher, but a spokesman for the university told the Times that it has no plans to change its name.
University of California plan to simplify transfers may backfire, critics say
Responding to pressure to simplify the transfer process, the University of California is proposing a new pathway that would guarantee admission to California community college students who meet certain criteria. But UC's idea, unveiled Tuesday at a state Assembly hearing, already faces criticism from lawmakers and college access advocates who fear the proposal will only make transferring more confusing for students.
Expansion of college financial aid in California may be at risk
A major expansion of financial aid for California's college and university students, set to go into effect next year, could now be in jeopardy. That uncertainty is causing alarm on campuses around the state that hoped the changes would help more students as it also streamlines the current complicated grant system. As part of last year's budget agreement, lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed to overhaul the state's main financial aid program, the Cal Grant, beginning in 2024.
California community colleges rely too much on part-time faculty and misspend funds, audit finds
California’s community colleges do not employ enough full-time faculty and in some cases districts are misspending state funds allocated for those faculty instead on too many part-time adjuncts, according to a newly released report from California’s state auditor. The audit, ordered last year by state lawmakers, probed hiring practices for full-time faculty at four community college districts: Foothill-De Anza, Kern, Los Rios and San Diego.
UC students fear losing aid as grades are withheld during strike
The strike by University of California academic workers may soon hit some undergraduates in a vulnerable spot: their grades. With the strike in its fourth week and no end in sight, faculty across the system are now planning to withhold tens of thousands of grades this fall in solidarity with those workers.
Supreme Court conservative majority signals opposition to affirmative action
A majority of Supreme Court members this week signaled that they may rule that race-conscious policies are unlawful, a decision that would jeopardize affirmative action at universities across the country. The court Monday heard oral arguments in two cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which both consider race in admissions.
California drive for free textbooks delayed in community colleges' central office
More than a year after California lawmakers set aside $115 million to expand free textbook programs across the state's system of 116 community colleges, the money remains stalled in the state chancellor's office. The funds have yet to reach the colleges or support the system's students who often spend hundreds of dollars per semester to buy books. The funding was approved last summer by lawmakers and Gov.
With standardized testing out at UC schools, what’s next for admissions?
By Michael Burke EdSource The University of California’s historic move to abandon standardized exams may not be the last of changes coming to the admissions process for the public university system. That’s the expectation of college access advocates and admissions experts who say ditching the SAT and ACT should be only the first step in making admissions more equitable across UC, which has nine undergraduate campuses.
CSU Board Votes to Place Burden of Ethnic Studies Requirement on Community Colleges
California State University took another step toward requiring students to take an ethnic studies class as part of their lower-division coursework, a move that would also have significant implications for the state’s 115 degree-granting community colleges.
CSU chancellor explains decision to keep most fall classes online
By Larry Gordon and Michael Burke, EdSource Timothy P. White, chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system since 2012, was supposed to be celebrating his imminent retirement right now, not dealing with the many academic and financial problems raised by the coronavirus. But with the emergency, White agreed to stay on as chancellor of the 480,000-student system through the fall, about six months longer than previously planned.
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