Read the report: Improving Higher Education Oversight.
Supplemental report language approved in the 2011 legislative session seeks the LAO's recommendations on the structure and duties of a statewide higher education coordinating body for California. The state currently has no coordinating body, following the Governor’s veto of funding for the California Postsecondary Education Commission in the 2011-12 budget. This report finds a need for robust and deliberate state oversight that enables policymakers to monitor how efficiently and effectively the postsecondary system is serving the state’s needs, and to make changes to improve its performance. This report includes both longer-term recommendations for creating a new state oversight structure as well as interim steps the Legislature could take to help guide the state’s postsecondary policy in the absence of a new agency. In the accompanying video, the LAO's Steve Boilard and Judy Heiman discuss the topic further.