California is in the grip of a paradox—a college education has never been more important to have, but has never felt harder to get. With more qualified students than ever seeking a constrained number of seats, many students and their families worry that the opportunity that higher education offers will elude them. For the public university systems in the state—the University of California and the California State University—ensuring that all qualified California students can achieve their educational goals is an enduring challenge.

To guarantee the systems’ future effectiveness and ensure student access to our public universities, we must address the challenge of financing public higher education in California.

College Futures Foundation began examining this issue in 2016 by bringing together experts with deep experience in public policy and higher education finance to review research, to test ideas, and to help formulate a realistic and actionable plan. Earlier this year, we published a comprehensive analysis of the higher education finance issue and a framework for reform.

As a next step, we commissioned David Binder Research to undertake a qualitative study among a wide range of people with a stake in the success of California’s higher education system. David Binder and his team conducted one-on-one interviews with business leaders, state finance officials, and Sacramento insiders. He also led group conversations with teachers and university employees, and focus groups with voters representing a range of political views, and with students planning to enter college. The diverse perspectives represented in these discussions converged on some common ground.

Notable findings from this research include:

• Strong support for public higher education and broad student access:
  • Respondents across the ideological spectrum largely value the state’s higher education systems and see the need to protect them.
  • Stakeholders are committed to preserving broad higher education access for a diverse student body.
  • Those inside and outside the systems, as well as voters across the political spectrum, agreed that our public universities must be able to effectively serve the state’s students in the new economy.

• Reforms will be challenging but necessary, with bipartisan support for pragmatic and realistic proposals:
  • Insiders and outsiders agreed that our public higher education systems will have to be more efficient, despite agreement among some that they are still underfunded.
  • Respondents saw the need for reform, but were careful to acknowledge that that success won’t be easy. There was disagreement about the level of urgency with which reforms are required. Republicans and Democrats generally didn’t see higher education finance reform in partisan terms.
  • Realism and pragmatism characterized responses to the systems’ challenges. In particular, the notion of “free college tuition” was frequently dismissed as unrealistic and even ill-advised.
  • Strong support for fiscal reforms in the following areas was expressed: revenue stability and predictability, more revenues, and improved accountability and transparency.

Over the coming year, we plan to commission more qualitative and quantitative research to gain a fuller understanding of Californians’ perspectives and to help shape recommendations for continued improvement.

Download Perceptions About the Financing of California’s Public University Systems: Opinion Research with Key Stakeholders, Engaged Voters, and Students.

Learn more about higher education finance reform for California at www.higheredfinance.org.