In an effort to shore up the promises made in the 1960 Master
Plan for Higher Education in California, a coalition of
organizations and a bipartisan group of state senators have
collaborated to produce legislation to ensure access to college for
all eligible California students.
The bill, called the College Opportunity Act of 2006, was
spurred by research showing that nearly 2 million students could be
turned away from California colleges and universities by 2013.
“It’s really looking down the road at how we can get
a plan underway now for how we can meet the challenges we will
face,” said Wendy Gordon, a spokeswoman for Sen. Jack Scott,
D-Pasadena, the bill’s author.
“Already we’re facing overcrowding,” Gordon
said, adding that within the next 15 years, it will be happening at
a much more severe pace.
The bill was presented last week and will be unveiled in its
official language Friday. It will be presented to the state
legislature in August.
Among the requirements of the bill is a call for the governor to
head a meeting with representatives of higher education and the
state legislature every two years “to assess state progress
toward achieving California’s higher education goals,”
according to a synopsis of the bill released by the Campaign for
College Opportunity.
The bill also requires the state to notify the families of
students in grades six, eight and 10 about college and financial
aid opportunities.
This legislation comes amid accusations that the state is not
fulfilling its obligations under the Master Plan.
“This bill will ensure that we keep the promise we made
with the Master Plan for Higher Education ““ to provide a
place in college for every eligible student,” said one of the
bill’s co-authors, Assemblywoman Carol Liu, D-La Canada
Flintridge, in a press release.
In 2003, UCLA alumnus Steve Weiner and UC Berkeley alumnus David
Wolf started the Campaign for College Opportunity after learning of
the projected inability within the next decade of California
colleges and universities to accept all eligible students.
According to figures from the California Postsecondary Education
Commission, enrollment is projected to increase for the University
of California system by nearly 30 percent between 2003 and 2013;
enrollment at the state’s community colleges is expected to
increase by more than 40 percent.
In response to the projected increases, the bill also calls for
a 10-year enrollment plan for colleges and universities that would
account for consistent growth.
In a show of bipartisan support, Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, and
Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher, R-Brea, have also attached their names
to the bill.
The Campaign for College Opportunity has initiated several
efforts to benefit California students, including a scholarship
contest, but the group’s primary goals are encapsulated in
this bill. If the bill is passed, the organization, with its
objectives achieved, will likely retire itself.
“As far as the campaign, we are just a temporary
organization,” said Elisa Bongiovanni, a spokeswoman for the
group. “Once we feel that we have completed our job, we will
fold up shop.”