Higher Education Facts
California spends roughly as much on its prison system as it does on higher education.
California’s higher education system is the largest—and one of the most diverse—in the nation.
40 years ago, California designated 18% of its budget to higher education.
Today it allocates just 11%. During this period, state funding per UC student fell from $23,000 to $13,650.
Over the past 40 years, higher education spending has increased by 1.7 times. To compare, police funding has tripled and public health spending has quadrupled.
In 1979 UC tuition was $2,200, adjusted for inflation. Students today pay over six times that amount — about $14,400.
Between 1979 and 2019, CSU tuition rose from $500, adjusted for inflation, to $7,300. This is a 1,360% increase.
Since 2008, student loan debt for Californians has increased over 119%.
Currently 3,791,200 million Californians have outstanding student loans, collectively totaling $141.9 billion.
The average student loan borrower in California owes $37,428.
California is on track to be short 1.1m skilled workers demanded by the economy by 2030.
Closing this skills gap will require the UC and CSU to award 730,000 bachelor’s degrees by 2030.
Sources:
California’s Future (2021). Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved from https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/californias-future-january-2021.pdf
Hahnel, C. (2020). California’s education funding crisis explained in 12 charts [Infographic]. Policy Analysis for California Education. Retrieved from https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/californias-education-funding-crisis-explained-12-charts
Higher Education in California (2019). Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved from https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/higher-education-in-california-october-2019.pdf
Higher Education: California’s Future (2020). Public Policy Institute of California. https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/californias-future-higher-education-january-2020.pdf
Cook, K. (2017). Higher Education Funding in California. Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved from https://www.ppic.org/publication/higher-education-funding-in-california/#:~:text=California%20spends%2012%25%20of%20its,and%20health%20and%20human%20services.
Rose, A. (2019). The Cost of College, Then and Now. California Budget and Policy Center. Retrieved from https://calbudgetcenter.org/blog/the-cost-of-college-then-and-now/#:~:text=Historically%2C%20the%20UC%20and%20CSU,make%20up%20for%20lost%20revenues.
Johnson, H, Mejia, M, & Bohn, S. (2015). Will California Run Out of College Graduates? Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved from https://www.ppic.org/publication/will-california-run-out-of-college-graduates/.
Johnson, H. (2016). Testimony: Closing California’s Workforce Skills Gap. Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved from https://www.ppic.org/blog/testimony-closing-californias-workforce-skills-gap/.