Gov. Brown signs bill to waive first-year tuition at community colleges

For first-generation college student Oscar Gaytan, community college was an affordable way to figure out what he was interested in and whether college was something he wanted to pursue. “(College) is something new to you,” said Gaytan, a fourth-year English and gender studies student. “As a first-generation student, you don’t talk to your family about […]

Survey finds education cost worries more than half of first-year students

Incoming first-year undergraduate students are increasingly concerned with the cost of their education, a national survey found. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey found 55.9 percent of incoming first-year students are at least somewhat concerned with the cost of their education and 13.3 percent have major concerns about financing their education. Each year, the Higher Education […]

UC job applications to no longer require disclosure of past convictions

The University of California announced that starting in October it will no longer ask prospective employees to indicate on their job application whether they have been convicted of a crime. The policy change follows advocacy efforts by the Underground Scholars Initiative, which supports formerly incarcerated students throughout the UC. Before the change in hiring policy, those […]

Student group for formerly incarcerated sees first graduating class

As a formerly incarcerated student, Armando Tellez’s path to higher education was far from traditional. “I got shot when I was 21. That was the same year I enrolled in college,” said Tellez, who will be graduating with other formerly incarcerated students this week as part of the Underground Scholars Initiative. Tellez will be graduating […]

State audit criticizes UC administration for misleading budget practices

This post was updated April 25 at 7:15 p.m. The University of California Office of the President has misleading budgeting practices, which resulted in accumulating a surplus of $175 million it did not disclose, according to a state audit released Tuesday. State Auditor Elaine Howle said UCOP also provided its employees with generous salaries and […]

UCLA study shows LGBTQ youth more likely to face violence in custody

A UCLA report found nonheterosexual youth in criminal detention are victims of violence more often than heterosexual youth. The study, published in January, found that nonheterosexual youth are disproportionately incarcerated and are more likely to experience sexual violence and other forms of abuse while incarcerated. Researchers at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of […]