Those who have not gone to school elsewhere seem to not understand the comparable affordability California offers at their public schools. Being from WA state, I can tell you WSU and CWU both cost within $3-4k of UC’s, without the prestige or notoriety.
I opted to go to community college because I was unable to pay that, and paid $80/credit at CC, plus hefty lab fees in the $100-200 range for physics and chem classes. WA has no Board of Governors Waiver equivalent.
Here in CA It costs $28/credit, with no course fees, and everyone complains about it like its crazy expensive.
The quality of student services and facilities between the two CC’s are night and day. At my San Diego CC I had chem labs where sections of seats were taped off when it rained due to huge leaks, roaches and rats infested buildings, counselors are nearly impossible to get an appointment with, the financial aid line can take hours, etc. There is a lot that can be done by increasing tuition. Alternately, the increased funding can be used to freeze tuition rates and still make
Improvements. I agree that the CC’s should be a priority in funding due to the sheer number and variety of Californians they serve compared to CSUs and UCs. This is where the money can do the most good for more people.
UCs are also still an amazing deal compared to private schools, which range from 1.5-3x the tuition.
I also take some issue with the overwhealming number of stories out there of students who have amassed huge debt and have a bleak future of paying it off and place blame elsewhere. I do agree school is expensive in general. However I think a larger part of the problem lies in students/their parents not having sound financial knowledge. Most of these are from private schools where tuition is much higher, but even at UC taking out $30k/year in loans for 4 years on a degree that leads to a job where you will make $40k a year is a bad idea. Worse yet a major that leads to no job. With options such as working while in school, applying for scholarships, going to CC first, enrolling in tuition reimbursement/repayment programs, military, etc there are so many ways to reduce what you pay/borrow.
I don’t think it’s fair to simply say that school is expensive and it shouldn’t be, so make it cheaper. California higher education is already cheaper than lower quality public schools elsewhere.