Holding the Line on College Access and Success
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Hello
The COVID-19 global crisis has been difficult for all of us. My heart goes out to those struggling to beat the virus, to those suffering through financial strife, and to everyone striving to adapt to new ways of living. There are so many heroes to be thankful for, from our healthcare workers to food providers and delivery workers. Our higher education leaders can also be counted among those front-line heroes. The lift for our colleges and universities has been herculean, as they rapidly moved millions of students to online learning to keep them safe. Our college leaders are working around the clock to ensure students have the technology needed to engage in online learning, the emergency aid needed for food and shelter, and the health services and counseling needed for student success. They have also been working to design new scenarios for the future in an uncertain time. We are deeply grateful for the heroes who are giving their all to protect college opportunity and keep California strong.
Times like these remind us that the relationship California has with its students is interdependent. California’s economy demands more college graduates, and students need the support of the state to be successful in college. It is critical that we continue to safeguard college opportunity so our state has the educated citizenry we need to better weather economic downturns and health crises.
This pandemic has also underscored for us at the Campaign the need for continued advocacy to protect college access and success for our state’s most vulnerable student populations. Black, Latinx, Native American, first-generation, undocumented, and low-income students make up the majority of California’s student body, but often have access to fewer resources needed to attend and succeed in college. That is why we will continue to uplift
resources and opportunities available to students, and we will continue our work to ensure college opportunity for all Californians during these times.
Our students and our state need all of us to ensure they can succeed, especially now. We are grateful for your continued support to ensure that California students can thrive.
Wishing you safety and health,
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Michele Siqueiros
President
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Protecting and Increasing Financial Aid
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The COVID-19 health crisis has laid bare the structural inequity in our financial aid system. The pandemic has hit our lowest-income students hardest, with many struggling to afford the basic technology for online learning on top of new or exacerbated food and housing insecurity. Federal and state dollars predicated on Pell Grant eligibility, time out of high school, or other criteria, means California’s neediest students, most often community college students, are ineligible for the aid they need to study and survive.
During this global health crisis, financial aid to ensure students can attend college is particularly critical. Our latest publication,
Financial Aid in California: Ensuring Funding for College Opportunity, provides an overview of state and federal aid available to California college students, identifies gaps in aid, and offers recommendations to ensure that our students with the most need for financial aid can afford a college education.
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California’s Leading Student Advocates Share Recommendations for College Leaders Amid COVID-19
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Last week, we co-hosted a webinar with the California Student Higher Education Advocacy Round Table, who
released a joint statement to the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges, sharing their recommendations for college leaders to protect access and student success during the pandemic. You can watch the recording
here.
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It’s Time for the University of California to Drop Standardized Admissions Tests
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In response to the rapid changes brought on by COVID-19, the University of California (UC) has
amended its admissions requirements for 2021 applicants. Among these changes is the move to an SAT/ACT test-optional admissions to ensure that students who do not have access to take the tests during this time can still apply to the UC.
We applaud the UC for this leadership, and we urge them to make the test-optional model their new standard. For decades, eligibility and admissions policies requiring standardized tests have given affluent, overrepresented students preferential treatment in college access. The use of standardized tests in current admissions policies yield more wealthy and white freshman cohorts. While those privileged students fill the coveted, at-capacity seats across the UC campuses, many highly capable, low-income, Black, Latinx, Asian American, Native American, and other historically underserved students are too often denied access to our state’s premier research institutions.
We urge the UC to develop an anti-racist admissions policy that gives every student a true opportunity.
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Your Weekly Higher Ed Research Syllabus: The current news cycle can be heavy. At the Campaign, one thing we look forward to is receiving weekly reading recommendations from our Senior Director of Policy Research, Vikash Reddy. You can read his thoughts, wit, and weekly reading recommendations
on our blog.
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Just Equations' latest report,
Go Figure: Exploring Equity in Students’ Postsecondary Math Pathway Choices, is a preliminary look at how California students are choosing their math courses and pathways. The report highlights significant barriers for students navigating the selection process, ranging from structural barriers, like limited access to or knowledge of available supports, to personal barriers like math anxiety.
Read more.
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Our work would not be possible without the support from our latest funders: The Yellow Chair Foundation, The Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The California Wellness Foundation, The Michelson 20MM Foundation, The Sierra Health Foundation, and The
Stuart Foundation. We've been able to reach sixteen wonderful years of creating student-centered change thanks in part to their contributions.
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