Hired in 2012, White pushed CSU efforts to drop remedial courses and raise graduation rates. His departure and that of UC’s Napolitano leave two big vacancies.
CSU shows progress but work remains to hit graduation targets. Up two points, only 27.5 percent of students who entered as freshmen finished in four years.
Higher education experts expect Newsom to be more generous to academia than Gov. Brown. New funding and expansion of free community college tuition are anticipated.
Hispanic Serving colleges may be eligible for extra federal funds. But just as important, backers say, the Hispanic designation gives colleges a recruiting tool at a time when 51 percent of California high school graduates are Hispanic and their enrollments in higher education are increasing rapidly.
The upcoming survey by the California Student Aid Commission will be the first of its scope since 2006. It will seek information from about 100,000 students in all the public and private higher education sectors about housing, food, books, transportation, technology and other costs. Officials hope it could lead to improved financial aid.
