A case for higher education for all

Public higher education in California really was free once. The University of California’s founding charter in 1868 declared that “admission and tuition shall be free to all residents of the state.” For nearly a century, UC and CSU charged no tuition, only small “incidental” or “registration” fees. When the California Master Plan for Higher Education was adopted in 1960, it reaffirmed that principle: Public college and university education would remain tuition-free for California residents.

This was the system baby boomers and late Gen Xers inherited. Through the 1960s and much of the 1970s, most California students could attend high-quality UC and CSU campuses for no more than a few hundred dollars a year. These degrees both opened doors and did so without burdening families or graduates with debt. In many ways, that generation’s wealth accumulation, career mobility and alumni networks were materially shaped by this world-class public university system majority funded by taxpayers.

The turning point came in the late 1960s, when Gov. Reagan argued that taxpayers shouldn’t “subsidize intellectual curiosity” and pushed to introduce tuition at California’s public universities. Though his proposal didn’t fully pass, “educational fees” replaced the notion of free instruction. By the late 1970s after Proposition 13 passed, California’s universities began relying heavily on tuition and fees to make up the gap. Costs crept upward through the 1980s and 1990s, but it wasn’t until millennials and Gen Zers entered college that tuition truly skyrocketed.

Between 2000 and 2020, UC tuition more than doubled in inflation-adjusted terms, while CSU’s nearly tripled. During those same decades, wages stagnated, housing costs surged, and the state’s contribution to higher education continued to shrink from 75% in 1975 to less than 40% today. The same four-year public education that cost boomers almost nothing now requires our youth to weigh financial-aid spreadsheets, scholarship essays, and federal loan calculators to afford the now near $100k four-year tuition bill — over $200K all-in.

Still, smart planning can soften the blow. The California College Promise Grant waives enrollment fees and our community colleges now offer two years of free college for those who qualify. High-school students can get a jump on credits through dual enrollment or middle college programs — I did this at College of San Mateo and Skyline College before it was a formal program and started freshman year at Cal with 24 units in the bank. Scholarships and grants help close the rest of the gap. Students who complete the IGETC curriculum and use the Transfer Admission Guarantee program can move directly into a UC or CSU campus as juniors, making obtaining a four-year bachelor’s degree cost less than half. 

But as tempting as it is to chase the cheapest path, the full value of college cannot be measured in dollars. The four-year residential experience at a regarded program has a value of its own where new research is born and those late-night conversations turn into friendships, mentors or future business partners. Many of California’s most influential leaders trace their professional and personal networks back to their undergraduate years. Just last week, UC Merced, with its 91% admissions rate, ranked 14th in the nation (third best public university) behind UC Davis and San Jose State, with an 80% admissions rate, ranked fourth best public university. Sometimes the right answer isn’t whichever option costs less, but rather the balance of cost, admissions probability and network. If loneliness is an epidemic and friendships are an antidote, lifelong connections made during this time are invaluable. 

College in California was once free because we believed an educated public benefited everyone. Boomers and Gen Xers lived that promise. Millennials and Gen Zers are paying dearly to do the same. So, while the practical goal of graduating without crippling debt is clear, there is a higher goal. California’s economy, its innovation and its global influence was never about individual success but rather what happens when we choose to support intellectual curiosity instead of dismissing it. The decision to invest in minds built Silicon Valley, fueled the arts, advanced medicine and helped make this state the fifth-largest economy in the world. If we want that future to continue, we’ll need to remember what our predecessors knew: Curiosity is the most powerful public investment a society can make.