To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.
February 29, 2024 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education Finance
February 29, 2024 - In this brief, we discuss the Governor’s budget proposals for the Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship programs—the largest two programs administered by the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC). We also revisit recent CSAC one-time initiatives the state has funded.
February 28, 2024 - In this brief, we analyze the Governor’s budget proposals for the University of California (UC). We have sections focusing on UC’s core operations and enrollment. We also revisit recent UC one-time initiatives and capital projects the state had funded.
February 27, 2024 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Education Finance
February 21, 2024 - In this brief, we analyze the Governor’s budget proposals relating to community college enrollment, apportionments, and nursing education. In addition, the brief provides a number of recommendations and options to help the Legislature address the large gap between current community college spending and available Proposition 98 funding.
February 15, 2024 - In this brief, we evaluate the Governor’s novel proposal to allow schools to keep $8 billion of cash disbursements above the minimum requirement without recognizing the budgetary impact of those payments.
January 23, 2024 - This brief is the first of a six-part series covering higher education trends in California. The first brief focuses on student access. It covers changes in student demographics, admissions, and enrollment levels, among other trends, over the past few decades.
November 28, 2023 - This post summarizes overall Proposition 98 funding and K-12 education spending in the 2023-24 budget package. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.
November 17, 2023 - This post summarizes the state’s 2023-24 spending package for child care and preschool. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.
Update (12/20/23): Corrected total child care program costs in Figure 1.
November 16, 2023 - Presented to: Select Committee on Serving Students with Disabilities
October 19, 2023 - This post summarizes the state’s 2023‑24 spending package for higher education. It is part of our Spending Plan series. In this post, we provide a short overview of the state’s higher education spending package, then cover spending for the California Community Colleges (CCC), California State University (CSU), University of California (UC), student financial aid, student housing, and California State Library. The EdBudget part of our website contains many tables providing more detail about the 2023‑24 education budget package.
October 2, 2023 - Each year, our office publishes California Spending Plan, a series of publications that summarize the annual state budget. The final version of Overview of the California Spending Plan is presented here along with short online posts that focus on major areas and features of the 2023-24 budget package. As these posts become available, we will add them below.