Posts By: Amanda Ufheil-Somers

California’s Public Colleges and Universities Face Massive Construction Costs – EdSource
By Mikhail Zinshteyn Facing building construction and renovation expenses approaching $50 billion over the next five years, California public colleges and universities could save money by sharing both the cost of new facilities and how they are used. That’s one of the conclusions of Read more >

No One Likes to Talk About Them, But Deferred Maintenance Costs Won’t Go Away – The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Lee Gardner Ask college presidents about the health of their institutions, and they’re happy to rattle off enrollment figures or capital-campaign progress reports. Ask about how deferred-maintenance costs on their campuses are piling up, and they get a little quiet. That’s because most colleges Read more >

Paying for Space: A Brief Framing the Issues and Opportunities in Capital Finance for Higher Education in California (2017)
The debate about how much it will cost to ensure that California’s public higher education systems can meet all students’ needs often focuses on the funds needed for regular operations—items like employee salaries, benefits, and other regular operating costs. But there is another Read more >

Capital Finance an Important Piece of the Puzzle for California’s Higher Education Goals
New Report – Paying for Space: A Brief Framing the Issues and Opportunities in Capital Finance for Higher Education in California The debate about how much it will cost to ensure that California’s public higher education systems can meet all students’ needs often Read more >

Through the Gate: Mapping the Transfer Landscape for California Community College Students (2017)
Many students in California enter higher education through the state’s community college system with the intent to transfer to a four-year college or university. Yet the transfer rate from the California Community College (CCC) system is stubbornly low—fewer than 30% of CCC students Read more >

Stories of Leadership: Learning from Community Foundations That Make Higher Education a Regional Priority (2017)
Through our Community Philanthropy for Student Success Initiative (CPI), College Futures Foundation is partnering with California community foundations to improve the economic future of their communities by advancing educational opportunity and attainment. Our work originally focused on growing the number of strategic, needs-based Read more >

Community Foundation for Monterey County here for good – The Californian
By Dan Baldwin There is an adage in our field that goes, “If you’ve seen one community foundation, you’ve seen one community foundation.” As place-based centers of philanthropy, all community foundations will be different because they’re reflections of the donors, needs, geography, and Read more >

We Promise Kids They Can Get a Public College Education If They Work Hard. Are We Lying? – The Sacramento Bee
By Ted Lempert and Lenny Mendonça California’s higher education system is about to be hit by a tidal wave of new students, and we have failed to prepare for the influx into our public colleges and universities. In April, state Superintendent of Public Read more >

Report Calls for a New Approach to Measuring Where Money for Public Higher Education Comes From, Where It Goes, and What It Buys
SAN FRANCISCO — Recent public opinion research shows an alarming trend of rising public mistrust of our nation’s colleges and universities—a mistrust sparked by increases in tuitions and the perception of eroding value of higher education. Underlying these concerns is a growing problem Read more >

Counting Past Each Other: How Inconsistent Reporting Creates Confusion about Higher Education Finance (2017)
Recent public opinion research shows an alarming trend of rising public mistrust of our nation’s colleges and universities—a mistrust sparked by increases in tuitions and the perception of eroding value of higher education. Underlying these concerns is a growing problem of miscommunication between Read more >