What UC Merced’s Class of 2015 Tells Us About the Future of California

The Golden State Invested in a World-Class Campus in the Central Valley. Why Give Up on It Now?

At commencement this past weekend, UC Merced sent a crop of about 1,100 graduates off into the world. Six years ago, when we awarded degrees to our first full graduating class, we had just under 300. That’s a sign of our growth, but more importantly—of demand.

Last fall, we received more than 20,000 applications, but we had seats for fewer than 10 percent of them. Much of that demand comes from populations that historically have not sent large numbers to the UCs – students from the San Joaquin Valley, for …

by Dorthy Leland | May 20, 2015

Can Two People Hold California’s Higher Education Hostage?

Why the State’s Universities and Colleges Desperately Need a New Master Plan

by Daniel J.B. Mitchell | May 14, 2015

As its official budgeteers measure it, the University of California has a $27 billion operating budget—of which a little under $3 billion comes from the general fund of the state. …

How the 1992 L.A. Riots Sparked My Imagination and Opened My Eyes

Research For My Novel Uncovered Tales of Survival in a City I Had Never Fully Known

by Ryan Gattis | May 4, 2015

I didn’t set out to write a book about the 1992 L.A. riots. In fact, if anyone had told me I’d end up writing a novel featuring 17 different first-person …

With the City’s Housing Prices Out of Control, South L.A. Could Be the Next Big Thing

Longtime Residents Need to Stay One Step Ahead of Developers to Benefit From the Area’s Rise

by Benjamin Torres | April 30, 2015

The 1992 riots are what first drew me to work in South Los Angeles. I was a civically minded college kid back then, with an attraction to social and economic …

The Inland Empire Strikes Back

Don’t Tell The Coastal Haters, But Riverside and San Bernardino Counties Are Driving California's Comeback

by Joe Mathews | April 23, 2015

The Empire is back.

I’m talking not about the new Star Wars movie but about Southern California’s Inland Empire. Of course, you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a statewide …

In Case of Emergency, Hold Mass

L.A.’s Religious Leaders Are an Untapped Resource in Times of Disaster

by Brie Loskota and Richard Flory | April 20, 2015

Any time now, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is going to announce whom he has hired to be the city’s chief resilience officer, the person in charge of increasing the …

California politics

What UC Merced’s Class of 2015 Tells Us About the Future of California

The Golden State Invested in a World-Class Campus in the Central Valley. Why Give Up on It Now?

Can Two People Hold California’s Higher Education Hostage?

Why the State’s Universities and Colleges Desperately Need a New Master Plan

How the 1992 L.A. Riots Sparked My Imagination and Opened My Eyes

Research For My Novel Uncovered Tales of Survival in a City I Had Never Fully Known

With the City’s Housing Prices Out of Control, South L.A. Could Be the Next Big Thing

Longtime Residents Need to Stay One Step Ahead of Developers to Benefit From the Area’s Rise

The Inland Empire Strikes Back

Don’t Tell The Coastal Haters, But Riverside and San Bernardino Counties Are Driving California's Comeback

In Case of Emergency, Hold Mass

L.A.’s Religious Leaders Are an Untapped Resource in Times of Disaster

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Merced, Where California Stores Its Big Plans

Unfinished Dreams for High-Speed Rail and Higher Education Falter Statewide But Find a Home in the Central Valley

All California’s Problems Lead to the San Joaquin Valley

From Water Shortages to High-Speed Rail, the State’s Most Overlooked Region Is at the Center of Its Most Important Debates

Californians Shouldn’t Need a High School Diploma to Go to a Public University

To Make Up for the Pandemic-Era Student Achievement Gap, Our Higher Ed Systems Should Skip the Requirement

A Micro-Loan at a Time, an Atlanta University Is Bridging the Racial Achievement Gap

How Georgia State Challenged a Broken Educational Model and Skyrocketed Its Graduation Rates

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