Staff
- Sara Cortez
-
(916) 319-8348
Special Education, Preschool, Child Nutrition, and Facilities - Kenneth Kapphahn
-
(916) 319-8339
Proposition 98, School District Budgets, School Transportation - Lisa Qing
-
(916) 319-8306
California Community Colleges - Michael Alferes
-
(916) 319-8338
Local Control Funding Formula, Charter Schools, Alternative Schools, High School Career Technical Education - Ian Klein
-
(916) 319-8336
University of California; College of the Law, San Francisco; California State Library - Natalie Gonzalez
-
(916) 319-8320
California State University, Student Financial Aid - Dylan Hawksworth-Lutzow
-
(916) 319-8308
Child Care, Expanded Learning, Teachers, and Education Technology - Edgar Cabral
-
(916) 319-8343
Deputy Legislative Analyst: K-12 Education - Jennifer Pacella
-
(916) 319-8332
Deputy Legislative Analyst: Higher Education
Publications
Education
To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.
An Overview: Governor's Higher Education Bond Proposal
- Format:
February 8, 2006 - We review infrastructure proposals in the Strategic Growth Initiative related to higher education. Presented to the Senate Education Committee. This summary revises our January 25, 2006 handout on the same topic.
California’s Options for Administering The Federal Family Education Loan Program
January 24, 2006 - The Supplemental Report of the 2005 Budget Act directs the Legislative Analyst’s Office to identify “the range of structural options available to the Legislature for providing the state with access to federally guaranteed student loan services,” giving special focus to the organizational arrangements used by other states. The language explicitly precludes us from recommending adoption of any particular organizational arrangement. Given this directive, in this report, we: (1) describe how states administer the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), (2) discuss the shortcomings of California’s existing organizational arrangement for administering FFELP, and (3) identify the range of organizational options available for administering FFELP.
Promoting Access to Higher Education: A Review of the State’s Transfer Process
January 17, 2006 - In adopting the Master Plan for Higher Education, the Legislature envisioned an efficient process for students to transfer from community college to the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU). Thus, the plan calls for UC and CSU to accept all qualified community college students into their respective systems. This report reviews current transfer admission policies and identifies institutional barriers that can make the transfer process difficult for qualified students. We conclude that the current process lacks the systemwide standardization envisioned in the Master Plan, and recommend steps to make the transfer process more efficient and effective for students.
Is Community College Enrollment Funding Keeping Pace With Demand?
- Format:
December 9, 2005 - Is Community College Enrollment Funding Keeping Pace With Demand? (revised December 2005) This is one of a series of issue briefs examining important questions about higher education funding in California. For more information on this topic, or to request other briefs from this series, contact the Legislative Analyst’s Office Higher Education section at (916) 319-8339, or visit our website at www.lao.ca.gov.
LAO Recommendation for a Community College Fee Policy
- Format:
November 10, 2005 - Presented to the Community College Student Fee Policy Working Group.
A Primer: Funding Higher Education
June 30, 2005 - Where does the funding for higher education come from? How are costs divided among various groups (such as undergraduate and graduate students)? What role do student fees play? How is financial aid funded? How does the state decide how many students to fund in a given year? The purpose of this primer is to address these and other questions related to the funding of higher education in California, so as to aid policymakers and other interested parties in their deliberations and decision making.
What Happened to the Proposal to Redirect UC and CSU Applicants to Community Colleges?
- Format:
March 4, 2005 - What Happened to the Proposal to Redirect UC and CSU Applicants to Community Colleges? This is one of a series of issue briefs examining important questions about higher education funding in California. For more information on this topic, or to request other briefs from this series, contact the Legislative Analyst’s Office Higher Education section at (916) 319-8339, or visit our website at www.lao.ca.gov.
Student Fees
February 24, 2005 - We describe the fee increased proposed for the state's public universities in the Governor's 2005-06 budget. We raise concerns with how revenue from these fee increases would be treated in the proposed budget. We also recommend that the Legislature adopt a fee policy that pegs the fees students pay to a fixed share of their educational costs.
Marginal Cost Formula
February 24, 2005 - We describe the state's marginal cost methodology, which is used to calculate the funding required to pay for each additional student that attends the state's public universities. We also recommend that the Legislature revisit the marginal cost formula to better reflect actual costs.
Governor Proposes to Put Universities' Budgets on "Autopilot"
February 24, 2005 - In spring 2004 the Governor developed a "compact" with the University of California and the California State University that specifies funding targets through 2010-11. We describe the compact and its fiscal implications. We also recommend that the Legislature disregard the compact and instead continue to use the annual budget process as a mechanism to fund its priorities and to hold the segments accountable for fulfilling the mission assigned to them by the Master Plan for Higher Education.
Overview of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education
- Format:
February 22, 2005 - Presented to the Assembly Higher Education Committee on February 22, 2005.
An Assessment of Differential Funding
- Format:
September 21, 2004 - This report examines various options for funding higher education enrollment at different rates depending on type of instruction, class level, and other factors.