Groping for a new Master Plan

UC President Clark Kerr hands
Master Plan to Gov. Pat Brown

Faithful blog readers know that from time to time we have noted a need for a new Master Plan for Higher Education to replace the old 1960 one (which actually expired in 1975).

The issue gets raised periodically when the legislature comes up with ad hoc policies. 

Last month we took note of a proposal to combine all three segments of higher ed under one umbrella authority.

Also back in December, two columns appeared in the LA Times. One lamented that back in the day, it wasn't so hard to get into the high-demand UC campuses which now have low acceptance rates. Somebody should do something:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-12-23/university-of-california-system-california-state-education-fix.

Another argued that tuition (although not room and board) should be free, as in the good old days:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-24/column-why-california-should-go-back-to-free-college-tuition-for-everyone.

Of course, there are some issues in pushing for a system in which everyone gets in and nobody pays. Nevertheless, the fact that these issues keep coming up underlines what we have been saying: There is a need for a Master Plan process combining a large group of stakeholders, not just ad hoc bills in the legislature.