Most Californians are worried about decreased funding for the state's public colleges and universities -- but don't want to pay higher taxes to alleviate budget cuts and tuition increases.
Those are some findings from a new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California on state residents' views on higher education. Specifically, the survey found that:
62 percent of residents think public higher education in California is headed in the wrong direction
61 percent say affording college is a big problem for students
74 percent say there is not enough state funding for higher education
65 percent say that public colleges and universities have been affected a lot by budget cuts
But it also found that:
69 percent are opposed to increasing student fees to maintain current funding
52 percent are unwilling to pay higher taxes to maintain current funding
So how should California come up with money for colleges and universities?
The survey says one idea that garners support is "a hypothetical statewide bond measure to pay for construction projects in the state's higher education system." Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed said they would vote for such a measure, which would require a simple majority vote to pass.
And 52 percent favored admitting more out-of-state students who pay higher tuition, but support for that idea dropped to 20 percent if it meant admitting fewer students from the Golden State.
Read the full survey at this link.
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