New
bill to help support California students
By Mario Burciaga
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
The Campaign for College Opportunity [CCO] introduced a new bill Wednesday, paving
the way for what it considers a strong approach to improve student access to
California’s community colleges and universities.
Assembly Bill 652 was presented in a teleconference from Sacramento by State
Sen. Jack Scott and Assemblywoman Carol Liu.
Scott said the bill calls for a renewed interest in the 1960 Master Plan for
Higher Education, which intends to provide eligible students the opportunity
to attend college. He said the bill has the ability to improve completion rates,
increase state progress and leadership, and heighten family knowledge of college
education.
“
We don’t just have to get students in college, we have to keep students
in college and I know it will take funding and commitment but the wolf is at
the door,” he said. “If we don’t do something now, we will
fail the students and the state of California.”
As a result of the new Higher Education Compact passed earlier this year by Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, California universities will have a 2.5 percent enrollment
growth increase and California community colleges will have a 3 percent enrollment
increase effective fall 2006.
The CCO is taking full advantage of the enrollment increase in the Higher Education
Compact by making the increase in enrollment the main source of funding for AB
652, Scott said.
In 2020, about 39 percent of Californians will need college degrees and it is
projected that 33 percent will obtain this goal, Scott said.
“
You have to think about it as an investment because for every dollar the state
invests in a student, it gets $3 in return due to increased taxes,” he
said. “It is a million-dollar difference in earning ability between high
school graduates and individuals with college degrees but if we plan for the
future we can meet that projected demand because the more students we have
in college the more it will pay off in the future.”
Liu, the co-author of the bill, said improved state education is a state-wide
goal Schwarzenegger needs to focus on because it will improve access to higher
education, make tuition more affordable, increase the degree completion rate
and increase efficiency and accountability.
“
If we close the door on this bill it will become the civil rights issue of
the 21st century,” Scott said.
Executive Director of the CCO Abdi Soltani said the CCO is currently on a 20-city
campaign tour in California that will inform schools and businesses of the bill.
In only the beginning stage of a prolonged procedure, the next step for the bill
is to be presented to the Senate of Education after which Schwarzenegger needs
to pass it.
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