January 11, 2021
California Competes Applauds Higher Education Funding Priorities
Governor’s Cautiously Optimistic Budget Proposal Keeps Higher Education Investments Intact and Even Recommends Funding Increases
Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget avoids any funding cuts for the state’s three public postsecondary systems and instead offers new investments to allow higher education to play a pivotal role in powering the state’s economic recovery. The Governor’s proposed budget directly addresses policy priorities California Competes has identified as being critical to drive economic strength and advance equity, including:
- Enhancing higher education and workforce alignment;
- Making online education effective and accessible;
- Supporting adult learners to and through college; and
- Implementing the statewide longitudinal data system.
The state’s economic recovery will benefit from a concerted effort to restructure higher education to better serve California, including increasing higher education’s alignment to workforce needs, addressing structural inequities, and ensuring we learn from 2020 to emerge stronger than ever.
Dr. Su Jin Gatlin Jez
“For current college students and those Californians who wish to pursue postsecondary education, these investments cannot come soon enough,” said California Competes Executive Director Dr. Su Jin Gatlin Jez. “The state’s economic recovery will benefit from a concerted effort to restructure higher education to better serve California, including increasing higher education’s alignment to workforce needs, addressing structural inequities, and ensuring we learn from 2020 to emerge stronger than ever. We see those intentions in Governor Newsom’s proposed budget.”
Read California Competes’s full budget analysis here.
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