Recently in COLLEGES Category

(Photo courtesy of Cal State Los Angeles)

Alexandria Huynh - at 17 the youngest graduating senior ever in the class of 2010 at California State University, Los Angeles - is heading to Harvard University this fall to pursue a doctorate in immunology.

Admitted to Harvard Medical School with full funding and an additional stipend, the Torrance girl also was accepted to doctoral programs at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Huynh was a member of the Golden Key Honor Society and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society at Cal State L.A. Recipient of the Kinecta Federal Credit Union Scholarship, she was recently named the winner of Cal State L.A.'s Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Senior Award and presented the Early Entrance Program Graduate of the Year scholarship. In addition, she has volunteered at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. When time allows, she also enjoys figure skating and playing the piano.

Huynh was admitted to Cal State L.A. at the age of 13.

According to officials from Cal State L.A., the university's youngest graduate ever is Cynthia Martel, who graduated with bachelor's degrees in biology and biochemistry at the age of 14 in 1990.

CSU trustees will meet in Long Beach next Friday to discuss raising student fees an additional 10 percent.

From the Associated Press:

California State University is proposing another round of student fee increases this fall as the 23-campus system grapples with deep cuts in state funding, officials said Wednesday.

CSU Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting in Long Beach on June 18 to vote on raising fees by 5 percent for undergraduate, graduate and teacher credential students, and 10 percent for education doctorate students.

Under the proposal, fees would increase $204 to $4,230 a year for resident undergraduates, go up $234 to $4,908 for teacher credential students and increase $252 to $5,214 for graduate students, said CSU spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp.

The board also will vote on eliminating the cap on nonresident tuition, so out-of-state students would pay about $16,000 for a full course load of 30 units, up from $11,160 now, he said.

"We're facing an unprecedented budget crisis," Uhlenkamp said, adding that the board could revisit the fee issue in November if the CSU system does not receive as much state funding university officials anticipate.

Still, the proposed 5 percent fee increase is less than the 10 percent hike that many had expected, said Miles Nevin, executive director of the California State Student Association.

"I think this is palatable for our students," he said. "I think it's reasonable considering the climate."

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature seek to close a $20 billion state budget deficit, CSU students are encouraged that the governor and the Assembly have both proposed restoring $366 million in funding to the CSU system, Nevin said.

Over the past two years, the CSU and 10-campus University of California systems have reduced enrollment, furloughed faculty and cut course sections in response to steep reductions in state funding. Both systems have raised undergraduate fees by more than 30 percent over the past year.

A court ruling made today will allow the nation's largest public university system to increase fees for summer course offerings.

The summer fee will cost students 40% more to take a summer class than in the Fall or Spring.

A San Francisco-based law firm filed a lawsuit in April against the California State University system, alleging that mandated fee increases for summer school courses are a violation of state law. Specifically, it challenged the legality of CSU's decision to replace state-subsidized classes with "self-support sessions" - courses students must pay an extra fee for.

The Superior Court of California today ruled in favor of the 23-campus system.

From the CSU press release:

A ruling today in a case heard in Superior Court in Alameda County will allow the California State University to move forward with its plans to offer self-support summer sessions. At issue in the lawsuit was the plantiff's assertion that self-support summer classes "supplant" or replace classes that are offered in a state-support session.

"We appreciate the court's recognition that allowing the CSU to offer self-support summer classes is the best way to serve students during these times of severe budget cuts," said CSU General Counsel Christine Helwick. "Most of our campuses will provide courses on a self-support basis for those wishing to continue their studies during the summer."

Petitioners from Cal State East Bay, Los Angeles, San Marcos and Stanislaus sought to require the CSU to reinstate state-supported summer sessions which would have caused campuses to redirect funding from the regular academic year where the most students are enrolled.

Over the past two years, the CSU saw $625 million cut from its budget. To manage this unprecedented fiscal crisis, the CSU implemented a plan requiring employee furloughs and layoffs, enrollment cuts, campus budget cuts and fee increases. Rather than cut enrollment for fall 2010 even further, most CSU campuses plan to offer self-support summer sessions instead of using limited funds for a state-supported summer session.

The elimination of state-supported summer and intersession courses, both of which have much lower enrollments than the regular academic term, was one of the most reasonable options campuses could implement to meet the goal of educating as many students as possible with fewer resources.

California's public universities avoided another financial blow last week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would restore much-needed funding to the University of California and California State University system.

Yet historic fee increases for California college students await.

A San Francisco-based law firm has filed a lawsuit against the California State University System, alleging that mandated fee increases for summer school courses are a violation of state law.

The lawsuit, filed in Alameda Superior Court, includes students from CSU East Bay, Los Angeles, San Marcos and Stanislaus. Specifically, it challenges the legality of CSU's decision to replace state-subsidized classes with courses students must now pay an extra fee for.

Last week the Governor released his proposed budget, which called for $305 million in additional funding to the UC system and $366 million to the 23-campus CSU system.

Schwarzenegger's budget plan, however, would end the entire state welfare system and make significant cuts to state-subsidized child care.

The proposal, which would not raise taxes, aims to address a $19 billion funding deficit for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

From the Sacramento Bee:

The extra summer fee means that on many campuses, a pair of undergraduate classes -say, in English, psychology or statistics - will cost 40 percent more to take this summer than they would in the fall or spring. And that's on top of the 32 percent fee increase CSU students absorbed in 2009.

With the extra fee - $80 per unit - CSU is allowing campuses to offer summer session as a "self-supported" program, where students pay the full freight, instead of a "state-supported" program that receives public subsidies.

"The state law is very clear that Cal State can't replace state-supported courses with
self-supported courses, and that's exactly what they're doing for the upcoming summer
session," said Anne N. Arkush, a lawyer with the Altshuler Berzon law firm that sued CSU.

Typically, state-supported classes are those that lead to a degree, while self-supported
classes are not offered for credit and instead are geared for people seeking job training or enrichment.

The case seeks a court order forbidding Cal State from charging the self-support fees for regular credit-bearing classes during summer and winter. Lawyers for the students are asking for a ruling that would apply to all CSU campuses, not just those named in the suit.

The university argues it has the right to switch summer classes to a self-supporting system - and to charge the associated fees - when the Legislature doesn't provide full funding. The state cut funding to CSU by $548 million, or 20 percent, for the current school year.

"Completely absent from (the legal) papers is any acknowledgment of California's unprecedented budget crisis, the resulting cuts to CSU's budget and the realities of how those reductions affect CSU's ability to provide access to its campuses year-round," the university argues in court papers.

"No law compels CSU to provide state-supported summer or winter sessions when the Legislature fails to provide sufficient funds to cover the costs of such classes."

It is only within the last decade that the university began offering state-supported classes
in the summer. Before 2000, all CSU summer classes were of the self-supported variety.

But that year, in anticipation of growing student enrollment, the Legislature decided CSU campuses should be used more efficiently and allocated funds for them to offer regular for-credit classes in the summer.

"Rather than build more buildings, we said why not use existing buildings during the one-third of the year we're not using them," said Steve Boilard, director of higher education for the Legislative Analyst's Office.

More than 10,000 students have been placed on waiting lists for admission into UC campuses, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Here's more:

Of the 82,056 California applicants to UC, 71.6% were offered freshman entrance to at least one of UC's nine undergraduate campuses. That was down from 72.5% last year and 75.4% the year before, reflecting in part cutbacks in enrollment due to state budget reductions, the figures show.

Applicants to UCLA and UC Berkeley once again had the hardest time. UCLA accepted only 21% of in-state applicants, compared to 21.4% last year, and UC Berkeley admitted 24.5%, down from 29.5% last year. The next toughest were UC San Diego, 36.8%; UC Santa Barbara, 41.7%; UC Davis, 44.5%; UC Irvine 45.4%; UC Santa Cruz, 64.9%; UC Riverside, 77.4%; and UC Merced, 78%.

And in other college news: Two women were arrested at San Francisco State University after a failed attempt to take over the university's Cesar Chavez Student Center. The women, who are not students, were among a group of 19 people who tried to break into the campus building about 4 a.m, a university spokeswoman said.

The protest was in response to fines that were leveled as part of misconduct charges against 11 students involved in a two-day protest in December in which activists barricaded themselves inside the business school to protest fee hikes, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

California college students may be getting a reprieve from fee increases.

Recently proposed legislation would establish a "baseline fee" for the 2010-11 year and cap subsequent fee increases at 5 percent a year. Fees would remain constant throughout a student's tenure at the school, so increases would only apply to incoming freshman or other newly enrolled students.

Student fees have increased over the past five year by 61 percent at University of California schools and 68 percent at California State University schools. Fees at community colleges increased 30 percent this year.

The bill has been proposed by state senate majority leader and former lieutenant governor candidate Dean Florez (D-Shafter).

"We have to get universities to realize that students and their families are not walking ATM machines," Florez told the Associated Press. "The goal is to take the erratic nature out of student fee increases so that families can budget for college and the universities get better at their own budgeting."

UC administrators said they could not realistically commit to the proposed fee restrictions without a guarantee of continued state funding.

Erik Fallis, spokesman for the CSU Chancellor's Office, said prohibiting fee increases for current students would place an additional financial burden on incoming students, the Associated Press reports.

This will no doubt spur debate.

From the Associated Press:

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Fresno City College administrators say a science
instructor violated a campus anti-discrimination policy when he told students that homosexuality is a mental disorder.

Christopher Villa, vice president of student services, reported the findings last week in a letter to three students who had lodged complaints against health sciences instructor Bradley Lopez. The campus' student newspaper published Villa's letter Wednesday.

Villa says instructors are free to offer opinions that may offend students or be at odds with other professionals. But, he says, Lopez crossed the line and created "a hostile learning
environment" by making "insulting comments directed at a group based on sexual orientation."

Villa wrote that the college "will take appropriate action" to address the violations. School
officials declined to elaborate.

From the Associated Press:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A new report is showing that California community college students are missing out on as much as $500 million in unclaimed federal aid.

Officials with the nonprofit Institute for College Access and Success in Berkeley say Wednesday's report shows about 500,000 of the 2.9 million community college students in California could be eligible for a Pell Grant.

Each student could get from $400 to $5,350 to help cover expenses at a time of severe budget cuts and rising student fees.

But the report says California students are applying at a lower rate than students from other states. Some students say they don't know about the grant; others say they find the application process too complicated.

Community college officials say federal policymakers are working to help streamline the
process.

No Surprise here.

Charitable contributions to the nation's universities dropped 11.9 percent to $27.85 billion, according to a survey released today by the Council for Aid to Education. The decline is the steepest in the survey's history and was expected considering the current economic climate.

"Historical patterns indicate that as the economy recovers, contributions will rise again," said Ann E. Kaplan, director of the survey. "However, 2009 was a difficult year for colleges and universities and, indeed, also for the individuals and institutions that care about them."

UCLA was ranked ninth among the top 20 fundraising universities, receiving $351.69 million in 2009. Stanford University topped the list, raising $640.11 million.

More from NPR:

The money given to colleges and universities for their endowments and physical assets, like buildings, took the biggest hit, declining nearly 25 percent.

The fallout from this is fairly self-evident. Many schools will be forced to defer projects to renovate facilities or erect new ones.

Pay freezes and in some cases wage and benefits cuts will continue to affect many faculty, administrative and support personnel.

Despite historic fee increases and section cuts, applications to the state's top universities continue to pour in. This year, a record number of applications were submitted by students. UC officials credit the rise to an increase in junior college transfers.

From the Sacramento Bee:

A record 134,029 students applied to UC during the application period that closed Nov. 30 - even though regents voted earlier in November to raise fees by 32 percent. The increase in freshmen applicants was modest - 2.4 percent. In contrast, transfer applications were up 17.5 percent statewide.

UC schools seeing the largest increase in transfer applications were Merced, Irvine and Riverside. UCLA and Berkeley had the lowest number of transfer requests.

The California University System is reducing enrollment by 40,000 students to help offset a 20 percent reduction in state funding.

Just days after promising not to cut any more from K-12 schools, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed today to restore some funding to the California State University system. The nation's largest system of higher education has suffered a $625 million loss in state funding the past two years. Schwarzenegger said an additional $60.5 million will be provided this year for enrollment growth. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed lauded the governor for his support in a statement:

"We commend the Governor for his renewed investment in the California State University," Reed said. "If adopted by the Legislature, this budget will allow us to begin restoring student access to our university. In this extremely difficult budget climate, we recognize and very much appreciate the Governor making higher education a priority. Clearly, he understands how important restored budgets for higher education are for jobs and California's economic recovery. We are still faced with challenging circumstances and it will be a slow process as we seek to return to financial stability. This budget will help start us on the path to recovery."

A high ranking CSU employee received more than $150,000 in reimbursement for travel expenses, living allowances and home office expenses, according to a report released today by California state auditor Elaine Howle.

Most of these payments were unnecessary, the report claims.

According to news reports, the CSU official, who went unnamed in the audit, resigned in 2008.

*UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times has reported the subject of the audit is David J. Ernst, the former chief of information services.

The news comes as the CSU system tries to navigate through a historic $584 million budget deficit.

Here's a response to the audit from Lillian Taiz, President of the California Faculty Association:

"The whistle blower report published by the state auditor this morning is just the most recent in a long line of incidents from CSU executives and managers that betray the public confidence.

This improper use of public funds could not have come at a worse time for students and faculty at the CSU. The $152,441 wasted by this individual should have gone to pay for class sections. This behavior would be inappropriate even in better times, but under the current economic circumstances it is beyond reprehensible.

It is shocking that at a time when students fees are rising and faculty are taking furloughs that the CSU Administration would not exercise better oversight of how money is being spent. This incident also raises further questions about how the rest of Chancellors Offices' budget - which is larger than the budget of 7 CSU campuses - is being used.

In short, Chancellor Reed must get his fiscal own house in order if we are going to make it through this economic crisis intact.

We want to thank the whistleblower for his or her bravery to come forward as well as the state auditor for looking out for the public good of both the CSU and state taxpayers."

As the Supreme Court discusses bankruptcy and student loans, a new report released today shows California college graduates rank near the bottom of average debts of university students.

The San Francisco Chronicle has more:

In 2008, an estimated 48 percent of students graduating from four-year public and private schools in California had debt, and their loans averaged $17,795 per person. While that's still a heavy load, only six states had lower average debt burdens.

Nationwide, about two-thirds of students graduating in 2008 came out with debt, averaging $23,200. That's up from $18,650 four years ago, representing growth of close to 6 percent per year, according to a study released today by the Berkeley-based Project on Student Debt.

Marshall Drummond was named chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District in May 2007. Prior to that, he served as chancellor of the California Community College system.

At the time, LACCD officials touted his Sacramento experience and ability to establish a lobbying presence in Washington D.C.

Drummond was placed on a leave of absence in June. Weeks later, district officials announced his departure. He had 23 months remaining on his contract.

The LACCD is made up of nine colleges and serves more than 130,000 students.

This report comes from Neon Tommy, via LA Observed:

In July, the seven-member board of the Los Angeles Community College District paid then-Chancellor Marshall Drummond nearly a half-million-dollars to quietly leave office.

The sudden and puzzling departure of the high-profile career educator, who once oversaw the entire 110-campus California community college system, drew a short piece buried inside the Los Angeles Times, before vanishing from the media radar.

The University of California Board of Regents finance committee is set to approve a series of highly controversial fee increases today that will raise undergraduate tuition by more than $2,500. It will be the eighth fee hike since 2002.

UC officials are seeking a $913 million increase in state funding.

The fee increases will impose strains on California families at a time when many are struggling in the recession, according to an editorial appearing in Wednesday's San Francisco Chroncile.

The committee is meeting at UCLA, and large protests are underway there and at other UC campuses

*Update: Fee increases have been approved, 14 protestors arrested.

From City News Service:

LONG BEACH - Despite the state's continuing budget difficulties, a California State University Board of Trustees committee approved a budget proposal today that requests nearly $900 million in additional state funding for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

"This is a very ambitious budget in these very challenging times," said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. "We are asking the state to not only restore funding of one-time cuts that were imposed for this year, but to also provide the needed revenue for mandatory costs, compensation increases, as well as fund our collective bargaining agreements for the past two years.

"This budget reflects the true fiscal needs of the CSU," Reed said.

The budget approved by the trustees' Finance Committee -- and expected to be discussed by the full board Wednesday -- asks for $3.2 billion in state funding, up from the current year funding of $2.3 billion.

In the face of cuts in state funding, the CSU system has implemented employee furloughs and other budget cuts. Enrollment for the fall semester was slashed by 4,000 students, with another 6,000 reduction expected in the spring.

CSU officials conceded that the increased funding request could be a long-shot, noting that the state is already facing a projected $7 billion deficit heading into the next fiscal
year.

Despite that deficit, CSU financial officials wrote in a staff report that the university "has
legitimate funding needs in order to carry out its critically important missions for California."

They also note that state revenue could increase rapidly if the economic recovery "becomes more robust that currently forecast."

"Nevertheless, on balance, the consensus of state fiscal experts is that 2010-11 will be
another year of great difficulty," according to the staff report.

Reed indicated last week that if CSU doesn't receive its full funding allotment from the
state, more tuition increases could be considered. CSU fees were already increased by about 30 percent in the past year.

Tuition for full-time undergraduate students increased to $4,026. Average campus fees are $801, bringing the total average cost to $4,827 a year - - a rate that CSU officials said is still lower than many other university systems.

Historic budget cuts and substantial decreases in enrollment have not hindered Californian's view of the state's university and community college systems, according to a recent survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Among the findings:

- 68 percent of those surveyed are against future student fee increases.

- 56 percent are unwilling to pay higher taxes.

- 60 percent rate the state's public university and community college systems as "good" or "excellent"

- Despite their attitude towards the state of education, Californian's have low marks for Sacramento politicians (28 percent approval for the Governor, 17 percent for the legislature).

From the survey:

While strong majorities believe state budget cuts (70%) and overall affordability (57%) are big problems, far fewer (21%) characterize the quality of California public colleges and universities the same way. Despite significant budget cuts in higher education, at least six in 10 Californians give good to excellent marks to the California Community College (13% excellent, 52% good), California State University (9% excellent, 52% good) and University of California (13% excellent, 49% good) systems. These grades are nearly as high as they were in 2007 and 2008, when about two in three Californians gave positive ratings to the three branches. Today, parents of California college students, current students, and alumni give the state's higher education institutions similarly high grades.
 
But residents have little confidence in the state elected officials who have authority over California colleges and universities. Californians give Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger a 28 percent overall approval rating that matches his record low in July 2009. They give the legislature an overall approval rating of 18 percent, near its record low (17%) from July. State leaders get even lower ratings for their handling of higher education: 21 percent for Schwarzenegger and 16 percent for the legislature. Both are new lows. And most Californians have very little (37%) or no (20%) confidence in state government's ability to plan for the future of the higher education system (8% have a great deal of confidence, 33% only some).

And the nations largest public university system is looking to cut more. Spring admissions have already been eliminated and university officials are expected to ask Sacramento lawmakers to restore $804 million in lost funding. The California State University Board of Trustees is expected to vote on an annual budget Nov. 17. If funding is not restored by the state, fee increases, program cuts and more faculty furloughs could be implemented.

Overall, university officials said they are looking to trim enrollment by 40,000 students across the 23-campus system.

Here's an article about how students are responding at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

And here's the press release from the Chancellor's Office.

California lawmakers have brought back a bill that would prevent pay raises for CSU and UC executives during years when university finances are tight.

The bill - SB86 - was proposed by Sen. Leland Yee, D- San Francisco.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The earlier version died in the Assembly's Appropriations Committee after objections from CSU and University of California officials.

"It doesn't make good economic sense when money is tight for the public universities to increase compensation for executive officers, while furloughing faculty and reducing their salaries," said Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, who chairs the Assembly Education Committee. "Everyone must do their share of shouldering the burden of tight times."

CSU executives covered under the new bill include the chancellor, vice chancellors, general counsel and presidents of CSU's 23 campuses. In all, about 30 people would be affected, said Clara Potes-Fellow, a university spokeswoman.

University officials have argued that raises and fatter perks are approved only when executives take on new duties or are newly hired at something close to market rate. They have also pointed out that top executives have cut their own pay as part of system wide furloughs at CSU, and as part of non-union furloughs at UC.

Princeton University researchers examining public college graduation rates and looking for ways to increase them have come to a startling conclusion: Many students who don't graduate simply lacked an academic challenge.

From USA Today:

Researchers studying how to improve graduation rates at public colleges and universities have come up with a surprising and counter-intuitive finding: Many students may fail to complete a bachelor's degree not because the work is too hard -- but because they're not challenged enough.

The findings underscore age-old advice: Students should enroll in the most selective college that will admit them. But the problem is not that qualified students are being rejected from academically demanding schools. "They never apply in the first place," Bowen* says. And the research found that those aiming too low were most likely to be minorities, low-income students and those whose parents never finished college.

* President emeritus William Bowen at Princeton, lead author of the study