(February 2, 2010) The Campaign for College Opportunity invites you to join us for another briefing in our Capitol Series—Conversations on College Opportunity & Student Success.  The discussion will center around removing barriers that prevent students from reaching their educational goals, highlighting two recent reports addressing issues of affordability and hearing first-hand about challenges facing college students with student representatives from all four segments.

Thursday, February 18, 2010
State Capitol Room 126
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Dessert and refreshments will be provided.

Deborah Cochrane, Program Director at The Institute for College Access & Success, will share findings from a recent report published by The Project on Student Debt: Student Debt and the Class of 2008.

Saffron Zomer, Campus Program Director at the California Public Interest Research Group, will present policy recommendations around prioritizing higher education funding and financial aid from Working Too Hard to Make the Grade.

Voices from College Student Leaders: student leaders from California Community Colleges, CSU, UC, and independent colleges will share their experiences and perspectives.

• Reid Milburn, Student Senate for California Community Colleges
• Steve Dixon, California State Student Association
• Victor Sanchez, University of California Students Association
• Mario Enriquez, Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities

A conference call option is available for those unable to attend.
Call-in number: 800.406.9170 | Access code: 931-0053156

Please RSVP to Rebekah Turnbaugh by Friday, February 12
at 916.449.3988 or rebekah@collegecampaign.org.

Capitol Series: Conversations on College Opportunity and Student Success

The Capitol Series is an opportunity for legislative staff and coalition partners to gain a better understanding of critical issues facing higher education today and their key role in shaping the work ahead. Through regular briefings, The Campaign for College Opportunity will address a variety of topics essential to ensuring that student’s have access to college and succeed in reaching their post-secondary education goals.

The Campaign anticipates hosting a minimum of four additional briefings in this series on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. 

Potential topics include:

• Invest in the Future: California leaders make the case for investing in higher education.  Business leaders and students share why the state should and must do better—even in tough budget times.
  
• Moving California Ahead: California has a real opportunity to access federal funding for higher education through HR 3221, but only if we take bold steps to position ourselves to be competitive.  Learn more about the fund and the role that California can play in producing more college graduates.
  
• Assessment & Placement: A discussion on the current efforts underway to strengthen and streamline assessment and placement in California Community Colleges.
  
• Affordability: Ensuring that college costs are not an undue burden to access and student success—a discussion on college affordability, student debt, and how they hinder student success.
  
• Practices with Promise: A dialogue around initiatives that have already demonstrated success and that also hold promise for statewide implementation.
  
• Student Success: There are many voices in higher education clamoring to be heard, but it is time to take a student-centered approach to policy reform—a discussion on necessary reforms that could help ensure student success in higher education.
  
• 1 Million More Campaign: Spanning pre-K to baccalaureate degree completion, the 1Mº by 2025 Campaign promotes a clear path for California to produce one million more college degrees by 2025.
  
• Capacity Crisis: Economic downturn, budget cuts, restricted enrollment—educational opportunity is in grave danger of being truncated.  The California Postsecondary Education Commission has some staggering projections for how many students may be turned away from California public institutions of higher education by 2019.
  
• Lessons from Other States: Having faced similar issues in the past that California now faces in higher education, Texas and Florida may prove valuable models for creating a more cohesive and efficient system and bringing new life to one of the crowning jewels of the Golden State.