Each year Kiplinger publishes their 100 Best Values in Public Colleges and this year California colleges claimed 8 spots on this list. During rough economic times it is extremely important to get an education, but it also helps to get a good value on the price you pay for your college degree. Kiplinger does extensive research to determine these rankings and many variables are examined to get the final list. In order to determine the cost for in-state students, they look at total expenses, grants, aid, and debt prior to their graduation. They also look at the information for out-of-state residents and perform the same analysis to get a separate ranking. New York was the top state on the list having 9 schools on the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, with California coming in second place for the most schools on the list.

California is a great state to go to college because in-state tuition (at many state universities) is government funded. These 8 universities are top picks on many high school seniors list this year as well. The colleges below have anywhere from 15,135 to 26,536 students and have in-state total costs that range from $17,459 to $24,628. The college with the highest admission rate was UC Santa Cruz at 73%, where as UC Berkeley has only a 22% admission rate. On average the student body was very evenly split between males and females at these colleges. Below is the complete list of the schools in California that made the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges list.

11. UC San Diego
13. UCLA
18. UC Berkeley
20. UC Irvine
29. UC Santa Barbara
41. UC Davis
50. California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
68. UC Santa Cruz

The bay area of California is buzzing this week as President Frank Chong of Laney College left his position to move to D.C. to work as the deputy assistant secretary of education for the United States. Basically this position on President Barack Obama’s team and all of the duties that it entails, equate this job to Chong becoming the chief of community colleges. Now that Chong has left Laney College in California, the Vice President Elnora Webb will serve as the interim president of the school while they search for a replacement. President Obama is a big supporter of community colleges in the US and view them as key to helping the economic problems of the country. This is because about half of college students in the US attend two year community colleges so they can learn a skill or trade to enter the workforce. Approximately 3 million students in California attend these two year schools and the more support they get will result in more qualified people in the workforce contributing to the economy.

There are a few key items which Chong is looking to address in his new leadership role. The first will be to improve the transfer rates to 4 year colleges where students can earn their bachelors degree, and to address poor writing and math skills for those just entering college. High school students need to be better prepared so they can jump right into college and help the US compete in the ever evolving global economy. Having more qualified individuals in the US will reduce the amount of outsourcing to other countries who want the talented workforce that certain businesses desire. Students not only need to be prepared for college so they do not get frustrated and quit, they also need the tools and information necessary so they transfer upon graduation and earn a bachelors degree. Obama’s goal is to significantly raise overall college graduation rates over the next ten years and Chong looks to be instrumental in making this change happen.

Jack Welch is one of the greatest US businessmen, CEO’s, and investors of all time, and has recently become a strong advocate and investor in the for-profit education market. In addition to Welch, there are numerous private equity firms like Significant Federation which are major investors in the for-profit education industry. One of the education companies in their portfolio, Grand Canyon University, had a very successful IPO in 2008, and another education company they own, Bridgepoint Education, also did well with their IPO in 2009. The six colleges owned by Significant Federation have a total student body of almost 100,000, of which 90% study online for their degree. FastCompany reported that Jack Welch has partnered up with one of the Significant Federation schools, Chancellor University, to create the Jack Welch Management Institute. Jack Welch himself has invested around $2 million of his own money in Chancellor University this year to support the MBA program created in his name. He also now controls a 12% stake in the company that owns Chancellor, which gives many investors even more confidence in the space.

As of today, for-profit colleges are responsible for enrolling roughly 9% of all students, many of which choose to attend school online. This is an amazing amount of market share for the for-profit college industry, and this looks to be a trend that will continue as more people choose to go to school online. It is not that traditional schools do not offer online programs, but they are no where near as common as they are among for-profit colleges. Almost every for-profit college in the United States has an online program. In fact, many are online only, with no campus locations. Another factor which will help college enrollment all around is that President Obama is pushing for the US to have the highest percentage of colleges graduates. The for-profit schools look to benefit greatly from this education push as they are the colleges which are expanding the most since the recession started in 2008.

These for-profit schools are continuing to gain respect among students and employers, which has aided to their recent popularity. Some feel the downside is that many of the for-profit colleges focus on more vocational type degrees, but in general their focus is to let you earn a degree that will help you secure a job in the real world. They are less inclined to let you study history or philosophy as there are not many jobs one can obtain with a degree in those subjects. Investors and industry analysts will continue to watch this space as more for-profit companies try and go public on the stock market.