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 11, 2022 - This brief analyzes the Governor's major budget proposals for the California Community Colleges, with a focus on apportionments increases, enrollment, modifications to the Student Centered Funding Formula, part-time faculty health insurance, and deferred maintenance.
January 31, 2023 - In this brief, we provide an overview and initial analysis of the Governor’s higher education budget plan.
September 11, 2024 - The Supplemental Report of the 2024-25 Budget Act contains statements of legislative intent and requests for studies that were adopted by the Legislature during deliberations on the 2024-25 budget package.
November 20, 2024 - In this report, we provide our estimates of the guarantee and analyze the implications for school and community college budgeting.
March 5, 2025 - This brief analyzes the Governor’s budget proposals for the California Community Colleges. It covers apportionments, enrollment growth, and various other ongoing and one-time proposals.
November 16, 2022 - Each year, the state calculates a “minimum guarantee” for school and community college funding based upon a set of formulas established by Proposition 98 (1988). Based upon recent signs of weakness in the economy, we estimate the guarantee in 2023‑24 is $2.2 billion (2 percent) below the 2022‑23 enacted budget level. Despite this drop, $7.6 billion would be available to provide increases for school and community college programs. In 2023‑24, the available funding could cover a cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA) of up to 8.38 percent, which is slightly below our estimate of the statutory rate (8.73 percent). Over the next several years, growth in the guarantee and required reserve withdrawals would be just enough to cover the statutory COLA. Given this relatively precarious balance, we outline a few ways the Legislature could create a larger cushion to protect against revenue declines in the future.
November 17, 2021 - Each year, the state calculates a “minimum guarantee” for school and community college funding based upon a set of formulas established by Proposition 98 (1988). Based upon revenue projections that are significantly above the June 2021 estimates, we estimate the guarantee in 2022‑23 is $11.6 billion (12.4 percent) above the 2021‑22 enacted budget level. After accounting for various adjustments—backing out one‑time expenditures, funding a 5.35 percent cost‑of‑living adjustment, and making required reserve deposits—we estimate that $9.5 billion is available for new commitments. In addition, we estimate that $10.2 billion in one‑time funding is available due to increases in the guarantee in 2020‑21 and 2021‑22. In total, we estimate nearly $20 billion is available to allocate in the upcoming budget cycle. To help the Legislature prepare to allocate this funding, we outline several options that would build upon existing programs, expand services in targeted ways, and address future costs and uncertainties.
July 1, 2024 - Due to legislation enacted a decade ago, the availability of postsecondary courses at state prisons has expanded significantly. In this report, we focus on California Community College programs at state prisons. After providing background on these programs, we cover trends in student outcomes and explain how these programs are funded. We then assess the strengths and weaknesses of these programs and make several recommendations aimed at improving them.
March 23, 2017 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education
February 7, 2023 - In this brief, we analyze the estimates of the Proposition 98 guarantee in the Governor’s budget and assess the overall structure of the Governor’s plan for K-12 funding.
December 13, 2022 - In this brief, we provide background on adult education funding, assess the current funding model, and offer recommendations to improve it.
October 24, 2022 - This post summarizes overall Proposition 98 funding and K-12 education spending in the 2022-23 budget package. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.