Education

California’s college students represent a wide array of ages, ethnicities, lived experiences and political beliefs. Eight voters who attend a California college shared their perspectives with CalMatters on the issues that matter to them as some vote in local, state and national elections for the first time.

In Southern California, candidates and political action committees are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaigns for community college board seats. Elsewhere, the races are uncontested.

Community colleges are designed to help students get an associate degree and transfer to a four-year university. Most community college students never graduate or transfer, a state audit found.

The governor’s recent deal with Nvidia will boost AI education at community colleges and open the door to similar deals for public four-year universities in California. Meanwhile, computer science programs are adding AI concentrations and majors to prepare students for a range of "blue collar" and technical AI jobs.

After leading the way nationally, efforts by California lawmakers to advance the rights of student athletes have stalled. No lawmakers appear poised to take up the issue in the near future.

In addition to voting on $10 billion in state school bonds, Inland Empire residents will consider bonds for 22 school districts.

A new state law bans private colleges from considering an applicant’s ties to family members who are alumni or donors. California’s public universities don’t use legacy admissions.

This November, California voters will decide on Proposition 2, a $10 billion education bond. Some community colleges are counting on the money to fix critical buildings and protect the safety of students.

The Smarter Balanced scores show improvement for both math and English language arts. Black, Latino and low-income student scores climbed more than the state average, although they still had lower scores overall.

A new law requires California students to learn Native American history in a way that includes the mistreatment and perspectives of tribal members.