Our Ailing Education Master Plan : Alarmingly, fewer Californians are enrolling in public colleges

For many proud years, California’s Master Plan for Higher Education delivered on the promise of a low-cost, high-quality college education for any high school graduate who demonstrated the academic ability to earn one. However, in another troubling sign that the 1960s pledge could be fading as fast as a freshman in the back of a crowded lecture hall, new figures show that fewer California high school graduates are enrolling in the state’s public universities. The suggested reasons include rising costs, declining grants, inadequate counseling and lack of encouragement in many homes and communities.

Since the late 1980s, California has run counter to a trend in which in-state college enrollment in the major industrial states climbed steadily. The state Department of Education revealed last week that the number of young people who went on to community colleges, California State University or the University of California slipped 1.3% in the last decade. At some high schools the drop in college-bound seniors reached 40%.

The decrease in college enrollment took place in districts ranging from affluent suburbs, where many students have opted for private or out-of-state colleges, to poor urban districts, where prohibitive fees or the prospects of big debts have caused many to avoid or defer higher education.

Some authorities say students aren’t prepared for college the way they used to be. They point to a lack of parental involvement, inadequate counseling in high schools and the increased need for remedial learning among those students who are accepted. In addition, the University of California and the California State University systems increased student fees by at least 100% from the early ‘90s through last year. For many families already hurting from frozen wages or lost jobs, education costs have become prohibitive. Cal State and UC educations are still relatively good deals. But such an assurance may understandably ring hollow to a growing number of struggling families.

Although financial aid has grown, it is coming more in the form of loans rather than grants. Californians have increased their rate of college borrowing more than 75% since 1991.

Gov. Pete Wilson has granted a temporary reprieve of sorts by freezing college hikes until next year. But fees are but one piece of the pie. Enrollment declines could well continue to be a problem for some time to come.

The big question now is not just whether the state’s educational and legislative leaders can address these challenges in time for the next surge in college-age students but whether they can agree on a vision for higher education at all.