California colleges have been struggling with budget cuts for the past couple years and 2010-2011 looks to be another rough year for the CSU and UC schools in the state. President Horace Mitchell of California State University, Bakersfield announced last week a budget plan which will include raising student fees, cutting staff, and canceling winter quarter graduation ceremonies. The plan would also cut four sports programs as well for the 2010-2011 school year at CSUB. Another rough part to these budget cuts is that it will force many classes to go from average class sizes of 35 to 70 students. Learning in large classes like this is more difficult for many students, and this is why many choose small schools so they can get more dedicated attention from the professors. This scenario is common among all of the UC and CSU campuses in the state as they try and make due with massive budget cuts. Unfortunately students and the economy of California are the ones who hurt most, because without students graduating the state will lack the educated job force it needs to reverse the economic troubles in the state.

Students who play sports are being presented with fewer choices every year of colleges where they can earn a scholarship to play sports. However, there is not much that CSUB can do, nor can any of the other UC or CSU schools in the state. CSUB is receiving a $1.7 million one-time stimulus fund as are other schools in the CSU system, but it is not enough to close the budget gap at any of the CSU colleges. The next year will be interesting as we see how these budget cuts affect students, and if they will opt for career colleges in California which are private and students know they can graduate on time and take the classes they need.

Budget cuts across the UC, CSU, and community college systems of California are causing numerous problems for the schools as they struggle to offer enough classes for students to graduate. There have already been a variety of classes being offered less often than expected, and when they are offered they might be full, which forces college students to wait until the next term. This scenario is even worse for students of City College of San Francisco, because the school decided to cancel their very popular summer session. The summer session at City College of San Francisco is typically a great time for students to catch up and take classes they could not attend during the normal school year. However, this last minute announcement has thrown the plans of many college students completely out of order as they now scramble to see if they can find any alternatives to City College of San Francisco in the area. Students either need to find another public community college in the area, or perhaps find a private school that has the classes needed for their degree. Even if students seek this solution, it can be tricky to take classes at different schools as not everything transfers and may not be applicable to the degree one is trying to secure.

Now the City College of San Francisco has made hundreds of college students extremely angry as they just want to attend class and further their education. Without a degree, these students cannot graduate and become bigger contributors to the economy, which is what California truly needs to get out of the budget crisis. Cutting money is a great tactic, but it does not serve the longer term issue, which is that we need more educated people in California so that the workforce is more qualified and we can generate more money for the state. California is bigger than many countries in terms of size and revenue, therefore we need serious leadership that can correct the mess we’re in so our college students can take classes when they need them. This statewide problem needs to be fixed soon, or students will have to shun public colleges for those private schools which actually have the classes a student needs to take for their degree.

Over the last few weeks the University of California regents has been in the news for various budget issues. This trend continues this week as yesterday the UC regents announced that they approved a very controversial performance bonus of $3.1 million, which will go to 38 senior executives at five of the UC medical centers. Many people in California are not happy about this approval, including union activist who denounced the bonuses. The reason many are upset is that so many California colleges and universities are already dealing with budget troubles, pay cuts, and even layoffs. Despite the negative feedback, the UC regents said that these funds were to be used to improve patient health and retain talented employees. Ultimately the quality of these very popular and reputable UC hospitals is in question, and it might be hard for some to stomach at this time. It is hard to deal with for lower level employees who may have only received a bonus of $300 compared to the UC hospital senior executives who received bonuses ranging from $30,000 to over $200,000.

Despite rough economic times in California, hospitals cannot suffer as it is vital to have a healthy workforce if we want to recover from our current deficit. These bonuses were awarded because the UC medical center system met a variety of targets that helped improve performance and save money. The bottom line is that the university hospitals and California colleges and universities need to be saved so that students can continue to obtain higher education. Education is what most feel is the key to getting California and the U.S. out of this economic slump, and we need the California colleges and universities to accomplish this goal.

Over the past few years the economy in California has had many events which have caused it to slow down dramatically, resulting in more people losing their jobs across the state. It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million workers by November of 2009 have lost jobs, which represents roughly 10% of the overall workforce in California.  These reports from the Employment Development Department also indicated that a year ago there were 911,000 part-time workers, who would typically be full-time workers. Almost everyone that the EED is tracking is working part-time because the economy is struggling. As the economy slowed down many consumers became more thoughtful of what they were buying, which led to a reduction in demand for many goods and services. Without a constant demand of goods, many employers have difficulty keeping people on full time because of the roller coaster nature of business at this time.

Not all view part-time work as a bad thing as it allows them time to look for a better full time job, or time to enroll in a California college to further their education. With flexible online schedules, students have an easy time taking classes while working part-time. Governor Schwarzenegger has vowed to make jobs a top priority while in office, but with all of the economic troubles it has been hard to make positive progress. The Governor is also working to make California colleges and universities a priority which many believe is key to long term economic growth. 2010 is already shaping up to be an interesting year for higher education, jobs, and the economy in California.

The presidents in the California University system are paid very well, and typically get great raises each year as long as things go well. Over the past couple of years the recession has slowly been working into the college system of California and now presidents are earning a little less or not getting any raises. In the survey from the Chronicle of Higher Education, they indicate that UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau had no increase in the 2008-2009 school year. Presidents in the UC system are still doing well, as total compensation for Birgeneau was $467,556 last year. UC President Mark Yudof is paid even better bringing in $600,000 overall for his total compensation. In addition to salary and bonuses, presidents at California colleges are accustomed to receiving extra perks like car allowances. Some may feel that the pay of these UC presidents is already too high, but these colleges in California are competing with the best private schools and Ivy League schools across the country. Therefore they have to stay competitive to attract the right executive talent to lead their college to success.

It is not only the presidents in the UC system that are feeling the crunch, as many faculty and athletic coaches in California colleges have also had to get paid a reduced salary. UC presidents like Birgeneau and Yudof have taken two 5% pay cuts over the last year to help with the budget. As tuition and fees rise at California colleges and universities many students and citizens want to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the system. 2010 is already shaping up to be an interesting year for higher education in California, which people in the state and across the country will be following.

History has shown us that higher education tends to become more popular during downturns in the economy, however, in some parts of the country, it seems to have taken a little longer this time than most experts predicted. As the recession continues, many in the work force are finding that there is a lack of good jobs which has resulted in an increase in applications to the University of San Francisco School of Law. In addition there has been a growing interest in graduate programs and law schools across the U.S., with many others seeing an increase in applications. October 2009 also saw a 20% increase in people taking the Law School Admission Test over the prior year, which is a prerequisite to most law schools. Overall there was a 13% increase in people taking the Graduate Record Examination in 2009, which is a prerequisite to most graduate programs. Many may think that interest for graduate school increases every year, but in fact it was down in 2008 which shows the lag in people feeling the economic crash. The dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law, Jeffrey S. Brand, was reported saying “I think the crash was so severe that people were kind of catatonic…They weren’t sure what to do. They’re coming out of that mode now.”

The University of San Francisco School of Law had a 35% increase in applications, which was among the largest increases at law schools in California. Not only are people with significant work experience looking for a graduate or law degree, but also recent California college graduates who are having difficulty getting a good job. Furthering your education during rough economic times is a great way to ensure that you are prepared and marketable in the job market when the economy improves.

California State University Stanislaus President, Hamid Shirvani, sent out a New Year’s memo to his staff and faculty regarding the future of the college and the massive state deficit for the 2010-2011 budget year. Public colleges across California are experiencing similar budget issues as most have had to endure spending cuts and fee increases. Currently the colleges in the CSU system are lobbying for California to allocated enough funds so that they do not have to increase fees further for their students. This would be a big win as many colleges are having to make drastic cuts in almost every program, which included teachers, coaches, and administrators salaries. Many teachers are still weary though as there were some lay offs and many wonder if more are to come in the future if there are budget issues.

In addition to teachers and administration feeling frustrated, students are feeling even more pain as budget cuts delay their educational goals. Many students have been complaining about the increases in fees and have held protests across California colleges. There is even a statewide “Strike and Day of Action” protest being coordinated to occur on March 4th. This memo by the CSUS might have helped as this morning the Governor told a gathering of the Assembly and Senate that he is drawing the line at education with regard to the nearly $20 billion deficit for the state. Governor Schwarzenegger sees the long term value in education and suggests, as President Obama does, that it is the key to the economic recovery of California and the rest of the country.

Publicly traded Corinthian Colleges Inc. has finalized their acquisition of Heald Capital LLC, the parent company of Heald College. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Heald operates 11 campuses in the western United States. All of the Heald schools are regionally accredited junior colleges and focus on associates degrees, certificates, and diplomas. Students can study various programs in health care, business, law, and technology. This acquisition by Corinthian Colleges Inc gives them an expanded campus and online presence in the western U.S., which partners well with their other school brands WyoTech and Everest. The acquisition of Heald was reported to cost $395 million, with Corinthian also assuming $23.4 million in debt. Overall this addition should not only help the stock of Corinthian Colleges Inc (Nasdaq: COCO), but it should also strengthen the Heald brand in California because of the support of their new parent company. Corinthian is based out of Santa Ana, California so overall it is a great win for the state.

Students in California are already struggling to get into certain schools or obtain the proper financing to attend schools this Fall. As more public California colleges and universities continue to struggle because of budgets cuts, more people will look towards these privately funded schools for their education. Many of the programs offered from the Corinthian Colleges brands are shorter in length with a career oriented focus. Their goal is to get people right into the workforce after graduation, which is paramount at a time when California is struggling and the unemployment rate is very high.  if the state has a more qualified workforce, then it will be much easier to help climb out of the current deficit.

The budget troubles in California over the past year have had a direct effect on the athletic programs of the University of California and California State University systems. Not only do athletic programs take a tremendous amount of effort by the students and administration, they also are very expensive. Just as professors at colleges in California have taken a reduction in pay, so have the athletic coaches and administrators. In order to keep things going, many coaches are spending their time putting together events to raise money to support their programs. All aspects of these athletics programs are being analyzed to ensure that money is being saved wherever possible so that things run efficiently. Earlier in the year, the Cal football team decided to bus down to Los Angeles to face U.C.L.A. in a game, instead of flying. This saved them roughly $30,000. The past fiscal year has been very difficult for the California colleges athletics programs and the next fiscal year, which begins in July, is expected to be worse.

In order to avoid giving the athletic staff pay cuts, they are forcing most to take scheduled days off so that the programs can stay running. This change has forced athletic program staff at California colleges to reduce their spending and cut expenses just like many other residents of the state. The poor economic conditions and lack of spending by many consumers has also resulted in low attendance at many athletic events. Therefore the revenue generated each game is far lower than expected which, compounded with budget cuts, makes it extremely tough to keep the athletic programs running. Many are hoping that the job market will improve in 2010 along with the housing market in California, which will help shift the economy so that people start to spend more money at these college sporting events.

Many small businesses around California have been having a rough time generating revenue during the rough economic condition in the state and country. Over the past two years, there were thousands of small businesses in California that went bankrupt as they struggled to make sales and stay profitable. Small businesses are trying to run lean and efficient to survive until the economy recovers and consumers begin to spend more money. In addition to fewer customers spending money, these small businesses in California are racking up debt and many are not able to get loans they need to help them stay in business. Friends and family are also having a rough time dealing with the poor economic conditions so it is hard for them to lend money to help out. Banks are also being more cautious about lending money because they have less of it to go around. Many banks have reduced their overall small business lending over the past year which, compounded with the other factors, has forced so many businesses to go under.

When economic conditions are poor, people typically go to school to advance their education for when the economy recovers, or they try and start a business. With it being so difficult to borrow money, economic growth is hurting because fewer people can keep their businesses running or try and start new businesses. Luckily things seem to be improving if you take venture capital money into account, as more start up companies in California are starting to get cash investments. Hopefully this will help translate into more jobs for people in California and allow consumers to spend more money, which is what these small businesses need most.