Beijing, 65438+February 9 th Recently, due to the huge deficit, California's higher education system is facing a comprehensive crisis. As the possible tuition increase will affect many local and international students, the incident caused protests and demonstrations from students. The American Qiao Bao recently published a special investigation on this incident.
The article is as follows:
crisis
Facing collapse? Colleges and universities are in jeopardy.
Senior officials of the University of California said on Monday morning that California's "Higher Education Master Plan" is facing a crisis due to lack of funds, but it has not yet collapsed. This 50-year-old plan has been optimistic until now, and countries like China and Singapore are trying to copy it.
According to MercuryNews, senior officials of the University of California said at a hearing that legislators should not only break the three-level state university system due to financial pressure, but also strengthen the productivity of this system to provide a higher level of education in the future.
1960 California adopted the "Master Plan for Higher Education", which is a cooperative system composed of community colleges, California State University and tertiary colleges of California University, aiming at providing higher education opportunities for California residents, whether they are poor or rich. At the hearing, education leaders and legislators suggested that the state should make a long-term payment plan to support the system. Overseas Chinese News Compiled Fish Music
result
Technology gap California's future is worrying.
Independent analysts said that the "technology gap" will threaten the future of California, and if universities continue to cut enrollment and increase fees, the gap will increase. A study by the California Institute of Public Policy found that by 2025, 465,438+0% of California jobs will require a bachelor's degree, but only 35% of adults have a bachelor's degree. The most educated people in California are adults in their fifties, but when they retire, there are relatively few young workers with education to replace them.
California's financial problem is very serious, and it will face a deficit of $20.7 billion in the next 18 months, which may affect the operation of higher education and other projects. Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislature announced last year that California's deficit was as high as $60 billion, which forced the state to cut spending on many projects, including community colleges, California State University and California University System. Overseas Chinese News Compiling the History of Fish Music
Kerr Reform and California Public University System
Before World War II, there were only a few public universities in California, which could not be compared with local private universities in quantity and quality. After World War II, California's economy developed rapidly, and the demand for higher education expanded sharply. In 1950s, clark kerr, the 12 president of Berkeley University, initiated the famous higher education reform movement and formulated the Master Plan of California Higher Education, which is regarded as the most important educational policy document in American history and still affects the development of higher education in California and the United States. Kerr gave a famous speech "The Use of Universities" at Harvard University, and put forward the concept of "pluralistic universities". He believes that the functions of universities are diversified, not only to discover and disseminate new knowledge, but also to play various social service functions.
Through clark kerr's conception and promotion, California's public higher education has flourished, and other states in the United States have followed suit.
The Operation of Three-level Education System in University of California
California public higher education has formed three university systems: research university system (UC), teaching university system (CSU) and community college system (CCCS). The research university system includes 10 universities, the teaching university system includes 23 universities, and the community college system includes 1 10 colleges. The research university system is committed to cultivating high-end scientific and technological and management talents; The teaching-oriented university system is mainly devoted to the teaching of undergraduates, among which only some universities set up graduate schools, and the community college system is mainly devoted to vocational and technical education and basic subject education.
The burden of families with tuition fees exceeding 10,000 yuan has increased the tuition fees of public colleges and universities in California, making parents worried, especially the Chinese parents who lost their jobs in this economic crisis.
According to the calculation, by next autumn, the tuition fee of this system will increase by 1929 yuan, that is, the tuition fee will be about 10 yuan, which is the first time that 300 yuan has exceeded the 10,000-yuan mark, plus books and stationery 1500 yuan, medical insurance and petty cash 1000 yuan, and the room and board fee will be 65,000 yuan.
It is difficult to transfer to a community college.
The community colleges of public universities in California are two-year universities. After completing 60 credits, students get an associate degree, and then they can transfer to a higher-level four-year public university, that is, the campus of California University or California State University.
Due to the education budget crisis in California, Canadian and state universities will greatly reduce their enrollment, making it impossible for many people who could have gone to college to realize their dreams. However, the reduction and compression of existing courses make it difficult for students from community colleges to transfer to other schools. Some students can't choose courses on a four-year campus, so they have to go back to a two-year university.
For example, in the famous Pasadena Community College, there has been a delay in the transfer of students recently, and some students are half a year later than the normal transfer to Canada or state universities. And the abnormal situation of four-year college students returning to community colleges to choose courses. Other students who studied at California State Polytechnic University have returned to Pasadena Community College because they can't attend classes.
Course cuts have affected international students.
School funds have been cut to the end, and many courses are no longer offered, which has a great influence on students' course selection, especially some international students. Immigrants require international students to take 12 credit courses every semester. In order to keep their status as international students, some international students have to take some unnecessary courses and pay a lot of tuition fees for nothing. Moreover, even if you have money now, you may not be able to choose the class you want to take.
Ms. Zhen Jiali, Vice Consul of the US Consulate General in Guangzhou, was interviewed recently. When asked about the impact of the financial difficulties of the University of California on international students, Zhen Jiali explained that this increase in tuition fees actually affected American students, but the fees for international students did not increase. For a long time, in order to take care of students in the state, the tuition fees charged by state universities for students in the state have been low, while the fees charged for students out of the state are different. Now, in order to achieve a balance, the tuition fees of students in our state have been raised to the same level as those of students from other States, so this has no impact on the learning costs of international students. Zhen Jiali also said that it is also an option for China students to attend American community colleges.
Privatize? High tuition fees become the threshold.
The reduction of education funds in California led to the decision of two California higher education systems, Canada and State University, to recruit 50,000 fewer students in the next three years. The embarrassment of public colleges and universities in California gives private colleges and universities a chance to grow with the trend. Many students who should have gone to public universities such as Canada or state universities have become students of private universities for various reasons. For many reasons, many people have to transfer to private schools because they can't get financial aid from public universities. Private universities have small classes and a closer relationship between teachers and students, which is why many students are willing to give up public universities.
The California Association of Independent Colleges and Universities has 75 colleges and universities, all of which have launched slogans to attract students on their websites. One of them is that California public schools reduce enrollment, but private colleges and universities will not reduce enrollment. Generally, the enrollment of private colleges in California is only 1/5 of that of public colleges. For ordinary family students, the biggest obstacle to entering private colleges and universities is still tuition: the tuition of private colleges and universities is seven times that of all schools in the state university system and three times that of all schools in the system.
Advantages and disadvantages: expanding the education system in all directions
The management framework of public higher education in California is government-led, independently funded and operated; Its purpose is to meet the individual's desire for education, meet the requirements of national development and serve the needs of all walks of life; Let everyone have a school to go to, and let everyone have a school that suits them.
The mission planning of California public higher education system is very clear. The nature of an institution is a research university, a teaching university or a community college, which has been determined at the early stage of its establishment and will generally not change thereafter. Orderly competition has promoted the quality improvement and efficient development of public higher education in California.
Changing departments refers to mutual recognition of credits between students from different institutions. After the first and second years, students can transfer between university systems. Flexible academic system means that students can freely arrange the time for receiving higher education after graduating from high school. Both the transfer system and the flexible academic system provide more choices for students and become a powerful learning incentive system for students.
The weakness of the amplification system is mainly reflected in two aspects: students and finance. For example, the University of California, Berkeley, because it is a public university funded by the state government, cannot select outstanding undergraduates in the whole country or even the whole world like other famous private universities. More than 80% undergraduate students must be enrolled in California (their graduate students come from all over the country or even the world), which affects the ranking of undergraduate education in the world to some extent. Financially, American public higher education is not as flexible as American private higher education. When the national economic crisis or financial crisis occurs and the state government is in financial difficulties, the operation of public higher education will be difficult. The crisis of expanding the system is caused by financial problems.
The background of the news story
Despite students' strong opposition and protests, the university board recently decided to increase tuition fees by 32%. President Udoff said that because the California government cuts funds and faces a huge deficit, raising tuition fees is the only option. For the first time, this year's tuition exceeded 10,000 yuan.
According to the latest survey released by American College Board) 10/October 20th, the tuition fees of American universities have increased by 20% in five years. In 2009, if it was a public four-year university in the United States, the average annual tuition for local students was $7,020, up 6.5% from last year. Including accommodation and other expenses, the cost of that year can reach $65,438 +0.52 million. The average annual tuition fee for international students is $654.38+$08,000, an increase of 6.2%.