Analysis of the 2007-08 Budget Bill: Education

Intersegmental: UC and CSU Outreach Programs

Currently, the state provides over $83 million in funding to the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) to support over 20 different K-14 outreach programs that focus on preparing and encouraging students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend college. For 2007-08, the Governor’s budget proposes a $26.3 million General Fund reduction to these programs. In this write-up, we (1) provide perspectives on UC and CSU’s outreach programs and efforts to evaluate their effectiveness and (2) present different approaches for the Legislature to consider in funding and evaluating these programs.

Governor Proposes Outreach Reductions

The 2006-07 Budget Act includes a total of $83.3 million for various outreach programs (also known as academic preparation programs) at UC and CSU, as shown in Figure 1. (The State Department of Education [SDE], the California Student Aid Commission, and the California Community Colleges [CCC] also administer a few outreach programs.) These programs are intended to help disadvantaged students enroll in college, thus increasing the college participation rates of such students. For the fourth year in a row, the Governor’s budget proposes to reduce support for UC and CSU’s outreach programs. Specifically, the budget includes a total General Fund reduction of $26.3 million to these programs, which consists of:

• UC ($19.3 Million Reduction). The Governor’s budget proposes a $19.3 million General Fund reduction to UC’s outreach programs. Under the proposal, UC would maintain $12 million to allocate across its various outreach programs.

• CSU ($7 Million Reduction). The Governor’s budget proposes a $7 million General Fund reduction to CSU’s outreach programs. Under the proposal, CSU would maintain $45 million to allocate across its various outreach programs.

Figure 1 Total Funding for UC and CSU K-14 Outreach Programs
(In Millions)
	Budgeted 2006-07	Proposed 2007-08
University of California	$31.3	$12.0
California State University	52.0	45.0
Totals	$83.3	$57.0

What Is Outreach?

In general, outreach refers to a variety of activities aimed at helping K-12—mainly at the middle and high school grades—and community college students from disadvantaged backgrounds (such as English learner [EL] students and students from low-income families) enroll in college for either an undergraduate or graduate education. However, the term outreach can take on many different meanings depending on the context of the discussion. This often makes it difficult to clearly define the state’s outreach efforts. For example, over the years UC and CSU have repeatedly changed their definition of outreach, and have reclassified which programs fall under their definition. In our view, outreach efforts seek to address three basic obstacles that can restrict students’ access to and success in higher education: (1) inadequate academic preparation, (2) lack of information concerning the accessibility and purposes of a college education, and (3) lack of information on and assistance with financial aid and the college application process.

The state has long supported K-14 outreach programs that focus on preparing disadvantaged students for college. For example, UC’s Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) and the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program have been in existence for over 25 years. On the other hand, some outreach programs are relatively new, while others have been eliminated or changed their scope over the years. Figure 2 summarizes the goals and services of selected K-14 outreach programs currently administered by UC and CSU. Though not a comprehensive listing of the over 20 different programs, it includes the major programs administered by each university system. As the figure shows, many programs have overlapping goals and services.

In many ways, the evolving nature of UC and CSU’s outreach efforts were the result of (1) changes in state funding for outreach programs and (2) a desire by the Legislature to ensure that the services provided by these programs are in fact effective in preparing disadvantaged students for college.

State Funding for Outreach Programs Has Varied

As we discuss below, the amount of state funding available to support UC and CSU’s outreach programs has varied in the past ten years.

Outreach Funding Increased Rapidly in Late 1990s

UC Outreach Expansion. In 1995, the UC Board of Regents approved SP-1, a policy that prohibited campuses from using race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as criteria in granting admission. In 1996-97, UC began a major initiative to improve and expand outreach efforts at the university. As part of this new effort, the Regents established an Outreach Task Force (OTF). This task force proposed a comprehensive plan, which the Regents adopted in 1997, to help make disadvantaged students better aware of and prepared for higher education. The plan generally called for the university to improve its partnerships with K-12 schools, expand student academic preparation programs, and increase efforts to encourage students to pursue a higher education.

In order to implement this strategy, the state provided UC with substantial General Fund augmentations to its K-14 outreach budget. Prior to the implementation of the OTF strategy, UC spent about $17 million in General Fund support on systemwide K-14 outreach in 1997-98. The majority of this money supported K-14 student academic programs (such as EAOP and MESA) and informational outreach and recruitment. In 1998-99, UC’s K-14 outreach budget received a major General Fund augmentation of about $43 million—more than tripling its General Fund outreach budget to roughly $60 million. (The university also received significant additional funding from the federal government.) The state augmented UC’s outreach budget again by $9 million in 1999-00 and $13 million in 2000-01. The above augmentations allowed UC to expand its student academic development programs and to implement a number of new initiatives which broadened its scope of K-14 outreach.

CSU Outreach Expansion. During this same period, the state also increased funding for CSU’s outreach programs. In 1990-00, CSU General Fund support for outreach grew by about $14 million (36 percent), increasing from about $39 million to $53 million. This augmentation was to expand programs aimed at increasing the number of K-12 students from underrepresented backgrounds that become eligible and prepared for CSU admission. The state augmented CSU’s outreach budget again in 2000-01 by $6 million.

Outreach Funding Declined for Next Few Years

UC Outreach Reductions. After peaking in 2000-01 at about $82 million, UC’s outreach budget declined for the next few years. From 2001-02 through 2004-05, UC received a total General Fund reduction of about $53 million to its outreach programs, thus resulting in $29.3 million for outreach in 2004-05. However, UC mitigated the impact of these funding reductions on the quality and magnitude of its outreach efforts by eliminating certain programs and services that were not targeting students most in need of assistance (such as efforts that encouraged already qualified students to enroll at a particular campus). Although General Fund support for UC’s outreach programs was again reduced by $12 million in 2005-06, the budget act instructed the university to redirect an equal amount of funding from other programs in order to maintain total outreach spending at its 2004-05 level of $29.3 million.

CSU Outreach Reductions. During roughly the same time period, CSU’s outreach budget also declined, from about $65 million in 2002-03 to $52 million in 2003-04. In response to this reduction, CSU streamlined

many of its outreach programs in order to more efficiently serve more students with fewer fiscal resources. For example, CSU consolidated many of its programs into a new Early Assessment Program, which is intended to improve high school students’ proficiency in English and mathematics prior to entering CSU. Although the General Fund support for CSU’s outreach programs was reduced by another $45 million in 2004-05, the budget act instructed the university to redirect an equal amount of funding from other programs in order to maintain total outreach funding at its 2003-04 level of $52 million.

Outreach Funding Has Remained Stable, Despite Recent Efforts to Reduce Funding

Although the Governor has proposed in his recent budget requests to reduce funding for UC and CSU outreach programs, the Legislature has made it a priority to keep the amount of funding provided for these programs stable for the past few years. The 2006-07 budget essentially provides the same amount for these programs as provided in the prior year, which is $31.3 million for UC and $52 million for CSU. In fact, UC received a $2 million General Fund augmentation in the current year for a new initiative between UC and CCC to assist potential transfer students.

Program Evaluations Have Not Been Conclusive

Over the years, the Legislature has sought to evaluate how well outreach programs are helping disadvantaged students enroll in college. As part of the past several budget acts, the Legislature adopted provisional language to ensure oversight of the use of UC and CSU’s outreach funds. Specifically, the Legislature has required UC and CSU to annually report on the outcomes and effectiveness of their outreach programs. In fact, as shown in Figure 3, UC has received a combined total of about $10 million since 1998-99 for the purpose of evaluating its own outreach efforts. For example, UC’s 2006-07 outreach budget includes $1.2 million for program evaluation. In contrast, CSU has never been provided funding specifically to evaluate its outreach programs.

Despite the significant amount of funding spent on evaluating UC’s outreach programs, the universities past evaluations have not been structured in a manner to provide evidence of program effectiveness. This is not to say that outreach programs are ineffective in helping disadvantaged students enroll in college. Rather, UC’s data did not conclusively demonstrate whether students participating in outreach programs would have been eligible for or likely to attend college without these services. In order to reach such conclusions, there would need to be a controlled comparison to a similar group of students who did not participate in the programs. Thus far, the university has only done such a comparison with a small sample of students participating in EAOP. In addition, it is unclear from these studies whether the state’s current outreach efforts are cost-effective in comparison to alternative approaches. Finally, the results of the evaluations provide little information as to which particular types of services (such as test preparation and tutoring) are the most effective in helping disadvantaged students enroll in college.

Different Approaches for Evaluating and Funding Outreach

We withhold recommendation on the proposed General Fund reductions to the University of California and the California State University’s outreach programs, pending our review of the program evaluation reports to be submitted this spring. If the Legislature decides to restore funding for this purpose, we recommend requiring an external evaluation of these programs. Also, as an alternative approach for funding and delivering outreach services, the Legislature could establish a College Preparation Block Grant targeted at K-12 schools with very low college participation rates.

The 2006-07 Budget Act required that UC report to the Legislature by April 1, 2007, on the outcomes and effectiveness of its outreach programs. Similarly, the budget required CSU to report on the effectiveness of its Early Assessment Program by March 15, 2007. Until we have had an opportunity to review these reports this spring, we withhold recommendation on the Governor’s proposal to reduce General Fund support for UC and CSU outreach programs. In recognition that the Legislature has made outreach a priority in recent years and may wish to provide a certain level of state funding for this purpose, we present below two issues for consideration.

External Evaluation of UC and CSU Programs

As mentioned above, the Legislature has minimal information on the effectiveness and efficiency of UC and CSU outreach programs. In part, this is because the universities are often the ones charged with evaluating the effectiveness of their own programs, and thus have little incentive to be critical in the evaluations. Rather than continue to ask and fund the universities to evaluate their own programs, we recommend calling for an external evaluation. Thus, if the Legislature decides to restore General Fund outreach funding for UC and CSU, we recommend transferring evaluation funding from UC to another state agency for the purpose of contracting out for an independent evaluation of both UC and CSU’s outreach programs. An advisory committee consisting of representatives from interested parties (such as the universities, community colleges, SDE, legislative staff, and the Department of Finance) could be established to assist in selecting an appropriate evaluator. This approach would be similar to how other programs of statewide significance (such as charter schools and programs for EL students) in K-12 education have been evaluated in the past. We believe that improved evaluations would help the Legislature better understand the investments it is making in outreach and what the impact would be if it decided to reduce, increase, or reallocate its investments.

College Preparation Block Grant for K-12 Schools

In our Analysis of the 2004-05 Budget Bill, we reviewed the state’s outreach programs and found that (1) some programs do not provide direct services to students, (2) some programs have overlapping goals and services, and (3) K-12 schools have very little control over the amount and type of outreach services that are provided to their students. For example, we found that directing a majority of outreach funding to higher education institutions makes it difficult for K-12 schools to coordinate multiple programs and integrate outreach with other education reforms. Based on our findings, we recommended that the Legislature create a College Preparation Block Grant for K-12 schools, with funds allocated to schools with very low college participation rates. We continue to believe that this proposal merits legislative consideration.

Our proposed College Preparation Block Grant is designed to (1) target limited resources to students most in need of additional help to enroll in college and (2) leverage local schools’ knowledge of their students to determine the best mix of outreach interventions. Schools would have the flexibility to use outreach funds as part of an overall strategy to assist disadvantaged students. This is because schools would have broad latitude over the use of funds, selecting a service delivery model that best meets the needs of their students. Schools could implement their own programs, or could contract with UC, CSU, or whichever provider could best meet those needs. As a condition of receiving funds through the block grant, we propose requiring schools to submit a plan to SDE specifying the types of outreach services that will be provided and how these services will accomplish measurable objectives. While we acknowledge that our proposed block grant would make significant changes to how the state currently provides outreach services, we continue to believe that it merits legislative consideration.

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