Assessment of the Strong Workforce Program

Dec 10, 2025 - Over the years, numerous studies have examined the effectiveness of workforce development programs. Some studies have found that these programs increase participants ’ employment and/or earnings, while other studies have found no effect.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5098

The 2026-27 Budget: California Education Learning Lab

Mar 25, 2026 - Similarly, UC Berkeley is receiving federal grant funding to work with community colleges to better serve transfer students in computer science and other related fields of study. Recommendation Recommend Rejecting Governor ’s Proposal.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5171

The 2026-27 Budget: Community College Facilities

Mar 17, 2026 - These projects must be accompanied by a third-party study identifying imminent health or safety risks, seismic risks, or failing infrastructure. The Chancellor ’s Office may designate up to 50  percent of state funding each year for life safety projects, though the amount needed to fund all project proposals in this category is typically much lower.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5159

Trends in Higher Education: College Affordability [Publication Details]

Mar 14, 2024 - This brief is the second of a six-part series covering higher education trends in California. The second brief focuses on college affordability. It covers changes in cost of attendance and student financial aid over the past few decades.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4884

The 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Higher Education

Sep 11, 2024 - The initiative was intended to provide students from underrepresented backgrounds with subsidized work-study opportunities related to their area of study or career interests. Most of the original $500  million appropriation was unspent as of June 2024 and the state reverted the remaining funds to help address its budget deficit.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4926

UC Merced at 20: Campus Developments and Key State-Level Takeaways

Nov 7, 2024 - Specifically, we reviewed an academic study by Lee (2019), the most recent study UC Merced commissioned (2020), and the most recent study UCOP commissioned (2021). Findings from the Lee study suggest that UC Merced contributed to a 13  percent increase in jobs in the local services sector (with students and campus employees increasing demand for things like restaurants, haircuts, and health care).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4937

The 2019-20 Budget: Student Food and Housing Insecurity at the University of California

Apr 25, 2019 - The California State University (CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC) also have studied food insecurity and homelessness among their students. The CSU and CCC studies had much lower survey response rates —around 5  p ercent for each study —than the UC studies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4014

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - (As further context, the state does not provide the higher education segments with specific funding earmarks to complete their data collection requirements and facility utilization studies.) Given that the results of the recommended data and studies have the potential to notably improve legislative decision ‑making on prison postsecondary education policy and programs moving forward, we believe the added administrative workload is warranted.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

Evaluation of CSU's Doctor of Nursing Practice Pilot Program

Jan 5, 2017 - The advisory committee was further charged with studying whether it might be feasible for CSU to train future tenured/ tenure –track nursing faculty by establishing its own doctoral program. CSU Study Cites Several Advantages to Offering Its Own DNP.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3521

The 2020-21 Budget: Medical Education Analysis

Feb 20, 2020 - A Couple of Years Ago, UC Began Studying Possible Expansion of Fresno Programs. In 2017, the UC Office of the President funded a third ‑party study of options to expand medical education at UCSF Fresno.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4166