From State to Student: How State Disinvestment Has Shifted Higher Education Costs to Students and Families

Abstract

California’s public higher education system has provided pathways to opportunity and economic mobility for millions of students. However, cuts in state General Fund support have led to significantly increased tuition and fees in recent decades at California’s public four-year higher education institutions, threatening the promise — enshrined in the state’s Master Plan for Higher Education — of affordable, quality higher education that is accessible to all eligible Californians. These trends have fundamentally altered how higher education costs are shared between the state, on the one hand, and students and their families, on the other. This report highlights how disinvestment has shifted higher education costs to students and families.