SACRAMENTO — At the top of my Christmas wish list is free tuition for all undergraduates at California’s public universities. We had it for generations until short-sighted politicians took it away.
No, I am not advocating for free university education. Tuition costs less than one-third of the cost of attending the University of California or California State University. There’s also room and board, books and supplies, and endless fees.
So, with the exception of those who attend for free, such as star athletes and the poorest students, virtually everyone would still be able to “get in the game” to some extent even if there were no tuition fees. Sho. University isn’t free.
According to the University of California, annual tuition for undergraduate students at the University of California campus is currently $14,934, for a total cost of approximately $45,000. CSU schools offer significantly lower tuition, with average tuition fees of $1,880 on top of $6,084.
This is a great bargain when you compare it to the cost of public universities in most other states, let alone the cost of private universities like USC and Stanford University.
However, the high cost of tuition in California is often a financial burden for middle-class families. And that’s an incentive for kids to skip college and take a dead-end job.
I was inspired to write this because of a question in a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California.
California adults were asked what they thought about making public college tuition free. They supported the concept almost 2-1, 66% to 34%.
Free tuition was supported by nearly all demographic groups, with one exception: Republicans. They opposed it by a 2-to-1 margin, while Democrats supported it by a 5-to-1 margin and independents supported it by a nearly 3-to-2 margin.
73% of those with only a high school diploma and 63% of college graduates supported it.
“Whenever we talk about how expensive things are in California, the cost of higher education always comes up,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC polling director. “People ask, ‘Is it worth going to college?'”
Furthermore, he added: “There was a time when having a high school diploma was your only ticket to the middle class. But today, it’s even harder to do.”
The answers to another poll question should particularly alarm policymakers. People were asked whether they believed that the American dream of getting ahead through hard work is still true.
Only a third said yes. Slightly more than half said that was once true, but no longer.
“If anything, people say it’s harder to achieve the American dream in California,” Baldassur said. That’s because of the cost of living. ”
Of those surveyed, 62% believe it is harder to achieve the American Dream in California than in other parts of the country.
And 56% said California is heading in the wrong direction.
In other words, California has come full circle since the last century, especially since the Great Depression and post-war boom, when Americans flocked to the Golden State in search of a better life.
One advantage they discovered is that all public universities offer free tuition. Because of this, children like me, who grew up in struggling families, were able to be the first in my family to attend and even graduate from college.
I remember former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) once saying to me: However, I don’t know if I would have considered university as an option now. ”Because tuition fees are rising.
Historically, California policymakers viewed free college tuition as a sound economic investment. It was not a feel-good social program. It was in the state’s self-interest to grow the economy by producing college-educated innovators and skilled professionals. As the middle class expanded and people took better-paying jobs, tax revenues for the national treasury increased.
But the state switched its priorities in the 1970s and began putting money into other things. Welfare enhancements, health care for the poor and especially K-12 schools to replace lost local property tax revenue after voters passed Proposition 13 in 1978. There is also the so-called Shinkansen, which does not exist yet.
Tuition fees entered campuses in the 1970s and steadily increased.
UC currently generates $4.3 billion annually in tuition and fees, according to the state Department of Treasury. $3.4 billion for CSU schools.
Mention to politicians the potential benefits to California of returning to free tuition, and they’ll roll their eyes and argue that the state can’t afford it. garbage. Californians have been able to afford it for generations. And with smart prioritization, the fifth largest economy on earth can still afford to do that today.
Naysayers, especially college leaders, point out that many children from low-income families receive grants, scholarships, and student aid. But wait!
What they don’t want to admit is that tuition-paying students are funding the aid. Their tuition fees are increased to pay for poorer students’ fares. That’s not fair. If aid is good public policy, all citizens should bear the cost.
In fact, if tuition were free, the state could save $2 billion a year in California grants that cover tuition for poor students.
Students get the best results from community colleges. There, full-time, first-time students residing in California are not charged course fees. This should apply to all California students working toward a degree, whether full-time or not.
If college tuition were free for California’s undergraduate residents, it could provide an incentive for economically disadvantaged families to stay rather than flee the state. It’s also possible that middle-class professionals will once again move to California in search of a better life.
But I’m a realist. This gift won’t arrive soon.
But it’s a good problem to have that a smart gubernatorial candidate could run into the statehouse in 2026.
