From Assemblymember Phil Ting
 


Expanding College Opportunities

While high school seniors across California fill out their college applications in the coming weeks, I feel hopeful about their futures. As Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, I made sure we invested in higher education so young people can improve their economic mobility and businesses can build a stronger workforce. In fact, we're at the point where cuts made during the recession have been fully restored with new investments to support opportunities for more students.

Some of the highlights in this year's state budget include increased funding for the University of California (UC) and Cal State University (CSU) systems to boost enrollment, allowing thousands more students to enroll. Additional resources also prevented tuition increases, thus keeping college more affordable at both UC and CSU.

We also invested in the CSU Graduation Initiative, which adds more sections to popular classes and expands advising. Its mantra, "Finish in Four," is aimed at getting students to finish school faster. The initial effort resulted in a record number of bachelor's degrees awarded at CSU (105,431 degrees total, a 7% increase) with more than 25% of first-time freshmen graduating in four years (up from 19%). We want to build on that success, so we dedicated another $75 million to the program this year.

In addition, this year's spending plan continues our push for the Degrees Not Debt campaign. At the Community College level, we supported tuition-free courses for all first-time, full-time students. The state budget also added another $45 million to Cal Grants and other financial aid programs to help low-income students and former foster youth. Furthermore, assistance is available again under the Middle Class Scholarship program, which benefits roughly 55,000 students. These investments help reduce student loan debt and other financial burdens that students must often overcome.

My young daughters will be filling out these same college applications one day. I know there's still more work to do, but we've made great progress in growing our higher education systems. I wish all the students applying to college this year the best of luck and am excited for all the opportunities that await them.

Sincerely,

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Phil Ting
Assemblymember, 19th District

 
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