No attempt at reforming the Master Plan for Higher Education in California will matter unless legislators and higher education leaders view it as more than a guideline that they can ignore. It is legislation and it should be followed like any other law, with repercussions for those who fail to adhere to it.
It’s little wonder the state and its education systems have strayed so far from the Master Plan – they never had any actual obligation to follow it. The only thing the Master Plan created that resembled a regulatory body for its implementation was the Coordinating Council for Higher Education, which technically required University systems to submit accountability data such as retention rates and costs.
But even that council had no real authority and could never force Universities or state officials to comply with the plan. The council was replaced by the California Postsecondary Education Commission, which Gov. Jerry Brown dissolved in 2011. And it’s no wonder he did so – its impact was minimal, its purpose faded and ambiguous.
Rather than giving up on an idea of such an entity, the state should resurrect a more efficient and dedicated successor of the commission, a council that must regularly check in with the governor, the heads of the legislature and the presidents of the three higher education tiers.
An ideal commission would actively collect performance data to hold colleges to standards of access and affordability. Such a commission should also actively advocate for enforcement of the Master Plan, pressing the legislature, governor and all higher education systems when they fall out of line.
Whatever may be the changes enacted to the Master Plan, without any kind of enforcement or ramifications for failing to follow the Master Plan, there can be no hope for actual progress in fixing California’s higher education problem.