Dive Brief:
- The Los Angeles Times endorses a tuition increase of just under $340 per student for the University of California System, which it says would be an adequate short-term solution for increasing educational access to the state's growing student population.
- The editorial board also takes California Governor Jerry Brown to task for his proposals to increase class sizes, reduce faculty research and to cut need-based scholarships to save higher education spending.
- According to the board, state subsidies to the system have fallen more than 30% in the last 15 years.
Dive Insight:
The UC System, which has faced increasing controversy over the last two years on some of its member campuses, is working to rebound to compete with schools in the Big 10 academic alliance along, with elite private institutions — not an easy task for a public system which, like many others, is feeling the pain of the privatization of higher education.
Its goal is to competitively price education for a growing profile of in- and out-of-state students while delivering a campus experience and degree value which makes that education globally competitive. Engaging national media like the Los Angeles Times is an ideal way to help make the case, but delivering data on the value of the research and the ways in which higher education pays off must be a part of the ongoing strategy to earn support.