The Campaign for College Opportunity has compiled several studies that explain the issue of Tidal Wave II, the need for higher education in California, and other related topics. Included in our library you can find:

• President Barack Obama has set a nationwide goal of leading the world in the percentage of college graduates in our workforce by 2020. One of his Administration’s proposed methods for meeting this goal is to include $2.5 billion in his budget over five years for the College Access and Completion Innovation Fund, which will establish a state/federal partnership to improve college completion. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) with support from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation has released a report entitled “Utilizing College Completion Program Funds” describing how California can best use those monies. Download a copy of the full report.
  
  
• "Technical Difficulties: Meeting California's Needs in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Fields" released June 25, 2009 by the Campaign for College Opportunity, the Sacramento State Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy (IHELP) and the Bay Area Council finds California’s colleges and universities are not producing enough graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, which could result in a talent deficit in key industries in the state and prolonged economic woes.  Download a copy of the executive summary and full report.
  
  
• "Closing the Health Workforce Gap in California" study released Nov. 5, 2007 and sponsored by The Campaign for College Opportunity and Kaiser Permanente and the California Wellness Foundation provides a comprehensive view of the health care workforce, including nursing and the 60% of the health care workforce known as "allied health." The study found that California lags behind the rest of the nation in providing an adequate health care workforce.  Download a copy of the executive summary and full report.
  

• "State of Decline? Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians," by researchers Nancy Shulock and Colleen Moore of Sacramento State's Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy (IHELP), offers regional analysis and recommendations on closing the higher education gap. This new study, a follow-up to last year's "Variations on a Theme" report, breaks down higher education performance by race, ethnicity, and geography using the methodology from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education's September 2006 "Measuring Up" report. Download a copy of the "State of Decline?" report and 14 regional fact sheets -- North Coast, Superior California, Upper Sacramento Valley, Sacramento-Tahoe, San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey Bay, North San Joaquin Valley, South San Joaquin Valley, Inyo-Mono, Central Coast, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Inland Empire and San Diego/Imperial. 

• "Keeping California's Edge" by Dr. Robert Fountain of Sacramento State University. Download a copy of the executive summary and full report.

• "Return on Investment" by UC Berkeley researchers Henry Brady, Michael Hout and Jon Stiles. Download a copy of the "fast facts," executive summary and full report.

• Two studies authored by Sacramento State University's Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy: "Variations on a Theme," which shows the substantial regional and racial disparities in college participation across the state of California; and "Shared Solutions," which examines how a combination of solutions can meet the increasing demand for higher education enrollment for the booming 18- to 24-year-old population. Download "fast facts" sheets for "Variations on a Theme" and "Shared Solutions," and copies of the "Variations on a Theme" and "Shared Solutions" reports.

• The executive summary and full report from our Listening Tour, "Listen Up: Californians Respond to the College-Access Crisis."

• The Public Policy Institute's 'California 2025' report.

• A copy of the actual 1960 Master Plan of Education, which explains the state of California's commitment to higher education.

• A history of the California Master Plan for Higher Education by the Center for Studies in Higher Education.

• Facing Reality: California Needs a Statewide Agenda to Improve Higher Education Outcomes, an October 2004 report released by Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Sacramento State University. This report explores performance data on California higher education, the challenges the state of California will face in the coming years, and compares California to seven other high-growth states.

• Ensuring Access with Quality to California Community Colleges, a report released in June 2004 by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, takes an in-depth look at California's college crisis with a focus on growing enrollment demand facing community colleges and strategies to ensure college access.

• Measuring Up 2004: California, a report card of California's higher education system, released by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in September 2004. This reports rates California on college participation, affordability, completion rates and other factors.

• The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work Life Earnings, a 2002 U.S. Census Bureau study that shows the wage gap between those who attend college and those who don't.

• Determined to Succeed: Realizing the College Dream in California, a 2004 report by EdFund and the California Student Aid Commission, follows a group of incoming college freshmen over a four-year period, and the effect of financial aid, particularly Cal Grants, on their completing their degree.

• Keeping America's Promise: A Report on the Future of Community College, a July 2004 study from the Education Commission of the States and the League for the Innovation in the Community College, looks at the future of community colleges from a national perspective.

• Student Access, Institutional Capacity and Public Higher Education Enrollment Demand, 2003-2013, a June 2004 report by the California Postsecondary Education Commission, looks at student access and enrollment demands in California over the next decade.
   

The Campaign for College Opportunity website is constantly expanding and will include more research studies and articles pertaining to higher education in the near future.