SECTIONS 92160 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 92160

92160. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The San Joaquin Valley is the most populous region of the
state without a University of California campus, and has one of the
lowest rates of college participation of all regions in California.
The San Joaquin Valley consists of the following counties: Alpine,
Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa,
Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne.
(b) The San Joaquin Valley sends fewer than 5 percent of its high
school graduates to the University of California, a smaller
proportion than the statewide average of almost 8 percent of high
school graduates who attend the university.
(c) Access to postsecondary education is determined, in
significant measure, by a student's proximity to college campuses.
(d) California's economic, social, and cultural development
depends upon popular access to an educational system that prepares
all of the state's inhabitants for responsible citizenship and
meaningful careers in a multicultural democracy.
(e) The southern San Joaquin Valley is home to a large population
of Chicano and Latino Californians, a group that has been
historically underrepresented among the University of California
student body.
(f) Current projections indicate that California must prepare to
accommodate more than 700,000 additional students in its public
postsecondary educational institutions within the next 12 years.
(g) In 1988, the Regents of the University of California adopted a
long-range enrollment plan to expand the capacity of the university
to accommodate an estimated 65,000 additional students by 2005.
(h) California has suffered a severe fiscal crisis that resulted
in the underfunding of the University of California and the regents
suspending actions and plans to construct additional campuses.
(i) The Legislature recognizes that long-term planning for
California's future higher education needs must continue despite the
short-term scarcity of resources.
(j) The Legislature is committed to planning for expansion of its
higher education system, with particular emphasis on quality
undergraduate education, student and faculty diversity, improved
transfer and retention programs, and effective accountability
mechanisms.
(k) As evidenced by the adoption of House Resolution 24 and Senate
Resolution 18, the Legislature is committed to providing financial
support to the University of California for the purpose of meeting
the increased need for higher education created by growth in the
state's population.