California Master Plan for Higher Education

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The California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960 was developed by a survey
team appointed by the UC Regents and the State Board of Education during the
administration of Governor Pat Brown. Clark Kerr, then the President of UC, was a
key figure in its development. The Plan set up a coherent system for postsecondary
education which defined specific roles for the already-existing University of
California (UC), the California State College (CSC) system of senior colleges, now
California State University (CSU), and the California Community Colleges system
(CCC).

The Master Plan also proposed a statutory framework for its implementation, which
was signed into law by Governor Brown on April 27, 1960. The statute actually
implementing the Master Plan is formally titled the Donahoe Higher Education Act[1]
(now located at Part 40 of Division 3 of Title 3 of the California Education Code),
to honor the memory of Assemblywoman Dorothy Donahoe of Bakersfield. Donahoe had
authored the legislative resolution which eventually resulted in the study that
created the Master Plan, and was one of its foremost advocates. However, she died
on April 4, 1960, and did not live to see the Plan's recommendations signed into
law.

Contents

1 History
2 Purpose
3 Effects
4 Subsequent changes
5 See also
6 Endnotes
7 References
8 External links

History

Prior to the Master Plan's development in the 1960s, California struggled to reform
its social institutions. Under political stranglehold, due to the 1920s-era
railroad monopoly, new, self-proclaimed reformers attempted to overthrow the
economic and political corruption existing in the state at the time. They wanted to
create new institutions with a public morality to give California a new form of
purpose.[2] However, in the early years of California's emergence the population
remained largely mobile, moving from opportunity to opportunity, making it almost
impossible for the state to create permanent public schools. Furthermore,
California progressives encountered obstacles in the form of people who thought
that education should remain the work of local and religious groups, as well as
being opposed to paying taxes for social purposes. Another wall towards progress
that they needed to circumvent was the issue of appropriating land and money for
universities. The 1st and 2nd Organic Acts (of 1866 and 1868, respectively) helped
by first introducing the possibility of a state secular institution and second,
actually allowing for the creation of a state university controlled by a Board of
Regents (which would become the University of California).[3]

In the 1950s, the state's legislators and academic administrators foresaw an

approaching surge in University enrollment, due to the baby boom children coming of
age. They needed a plan to be able to maintain educational quality in the face of
growing demand.[4] The underlying principles that they sought were:

That some form of higher education ought to be available to all regardless of

their economic means, and that academic progress should be limited only by
individual proficiency; and
differentiation of function so that each of the three systems would strive for
excellence in different areas, so as to not waste public resources on duplicate
efforts.[5]

The original Master Plan was approved by the Regents and the State Board of
Education and submitted to the Legislature in February 1960. In April of that year,
the California Legislature passed the Donahoe Act placing into statute a number of
components of the Master Plan.[5] However, California's Master Plan is more than a
single statute. The 1960 Master Plan is embodied in several documents:

A study completed by the Master Plan Survey Team approved by the State Board of
Education and the University of California Board of Regents
The Donahoe Act giving legal force to several key components of the plan
A constitutional amendment which established the California State Colleges
Board of Trustees (renamed the California State University in 1974).[6]

Purpose

Clark Kerr stated that the goal of the master plan was to balance the "competing
demands of fostering excellence and guaranteeing educational access for all."[7]
The Master Plan achieved the following:

It created a system that combined exceptional quality with broad access for
students.
It transformed a collection of uncoordinated and competing colleges and
universities into a coherent system.
It established a broad framework for higher education that encourages each of
the three public higher education segments to concentrate on creating its own kind
of excellence within its own particular set of responsibilities.
And it acknowledged the vital role of the independent colleges and
universities, envisioning higher education in California as a single continuum of
educational opportunity, from small private colleges to large public universities.
[5]

According to the Plan, the top one-eighth (12.5%) of graduating high school seniors
would be guaranteed a place at a campus of the University of California (Berkeley,
Los Angeles, etc.) tuition-free. The top one-third (33.3%) would be able to enter
the California State University system (San Francisco State, Cal State L.A., etc.).
Community colleges (Bakersfield College, College of the Canyons, Citrus College,
Mount San Antonio College, etc.) would accept any students "capable of benefiting
from instruction."[5] These percentages are now enforced by sliding scales equating
grade point average and scores on the SAT or ACT, which are recalculated every
year. No actual ranking of students in high schools is used as many schools do not
rank students.

Graduates of the community colleges would then be guaranteed transfer to the Cal
State or UC systems in order to complete bachelor's degrees. This practice was
carried over from previous years before the Plan was enacted, with graduates from
the CCC being accepted as third-year students at the Universities by virtue of
their prior coursework. Finally, the Plan established that the University of
California would be the sole portion of the system charged with performing academic
research, and would award master's and doctoral degrees in support of that mission.
The Cal State system, in addition to awarding master's degrees, would be able to
award joint doctorates with the UC.[5]

The "California Idea" - California's tripartite system of public research

universities, comprehensive 4-year undergraduate campuses, and open-access
community colleges has been highly influential, and many other states and even
nations have imitated this structure. Ironically, California higher education has
had a poor record of college completion and 4-year Baccalaureate degree attainment.
Subgroups such as Latinos and African Americans, who are a large and growing
demographic, show even worsening statistics of degree attainment.[8]
Effects
This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by
verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only
of original research should be removed. (September 2011) (Learn how and when to
remove this template message)

The Master Plan meant that essentially, "anyone from anywhere in California could,
if they worked hard enough, get a bachelors degree from one of the best
universities in the country (and, therefore, in the world), almost free of
charge."[9]

The Plan increased overall efficiency in the higher education system, as well as
produced greater number of graduates at a lower per-student cost by removing
redundancies. This was accomplished by clearly specifying the missions of each
system segment, in addition to clarifying what "territory" belonged to each
institution. It established a "rational" planning process for the growth of the
university systems, setting aside a past practice in which the Legislature would
introduce bills establishing new four-year universities in a member's home
district, a kind of political pork.

The Plan was the basis for a substantial surge in development in California higher
education. Today, many[citation needed] credit the California universities for the
place the state holds in the world economy, as well as bolstering its own economic
makeup with great investment in high technology areas, such as Silicon Valley,
biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals.

The Plan has contributed to the massive economic contributions that the UC, CSU,
and CCC systems have had to the state and its growth. According to a study by the
Regents of California, the UC system is directly responsible for adding about $32.8
billion to the gross state product, which is about 1.8 percent of the total GSP, a
key indicator of economic performance [10]
Subsequent changes

In 1972, a review of the Plan found that the basic structure was good, but that it
should be changed slightly to accommodate the ideas of the time. For example, the
review board suggested that weekend and evening programs be expanded to serve non-
traditional students, and incorporating technology such as T.V.[11]

In 1978, Proposition 13, the People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation, was
enacted, causing the free public education to be eliminated. (Since tuition was
still banned under the act, the word was replaced with per-unit enrollment fees.)
Though the costs were low, many taxpayers were very angered by it, though this
might have been because of the direct effects of the People's Initiative to Limit
Property Taxation.

The 1987 revision specifically recognized the contributions of the independent

sector and made explicit provision to include the independent sector in the
planning functions of the state's higher education system. It also established a
policy to set the maximum award for Cal Grants in state law.

In 2005, the demand for high school and community college administrators brought
about a widely debated exception to the existing differentiation of function
between the CSU and UC systems. The awarding of doctoral degrees had originally
been exclusive to the UC system, with the provision that the California State
Universities could offer PhD degrees as "joint" degrees in combination with the
University of California or an accredited private university. Under the provisions
of SB 724, signed into law September 22, 2005, the campuses of the California State
University were then able to directly offer a Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D)
"focused on preparing administrative leaders". It was argued that this fulfilled
the original purpose of many of the CSUs, which were set up as normal schools to
train teachers.

In 2010, the CSU was also given the authority to exclusively offer two more
Doctoral degrees - Doctorate in Nursing (DNP) and Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT).

When the Master Plan was first founded in 1960, post-secondary education
enrollments were equally divided amongst 2-year and 4-year institutions. However,
in 2010, due to a lack of funding, the framers of the Master Plan limited
eligibility admission to UC and CSU. The cost-cutting move diverted a large number
of students to 2-year institutions, which would still allow them to finish their
lower division work and then transfer to a 4-year institution.
See also

California Postsecondary Education Commission

California State University
University of California
California Community Colleges system
List of colleges and universities in California
Rarick, Ethan (2005) The Life and Times of Pat Brown California Rising (Ch.
7) Berkeley, CA: University of California Press

Endnotes

California Education Code Section 66000 states that "[t]his part shall be known and
may be cited as the Donahoe Higher Education Act."
John Douglass, "The California Idea and American Higher Education" (Stanford, VA:
Stanford University Press, 2000), p. 81.
John Douglass, "The California Idea and American Higher Education" (Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press, 2000).
California State Department of Education (1960). A Master Plan for Higher Education
in California: 1960-1975. Chapter IV - Students: The Problem of Numbers, p. 46.
Retrieved: 2014-04-19.
University of California (2009). California Master Plan for Higher Education -
Major Features. Office of the President. Retrieved: 2014-04-19.
UC Berkeley (2010). Major Features and a Brief Guide to the California Master Plan.
Center for Studies in Higher Education. Retrieved: 2014-04-19.
Warren, Jeffrey E. (July 14, 2011. "UC, where are your native sons and daughters?"
Hearst Communications - SF Gate. Retrieved: 2014-04-19.
Atkinson, Richard; Geiser, Saul. "Beyond the Master Plan: The Case for
Restructuring Baccalaureate Education in California." Center for Studies in Higher
Education, 2012 p. 2.
http://cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/publications/docs/Geiser_S-
Beyond_the_Master_Plan.pdf
Aaron Bady and Mike Konczal, "From Master Plan to No Plan: The Slow Death of Public
Higher Education," Dissent, Fall 2012, http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/from-
master-plan-to-no-plan-the-slow-death-of-public-higher-education.
"The University of California's Economic Contribution to the State of
California."Regents.universityofcalifornia.edu. Economic and Planning Systems Inc.,
12 Sept. 2011. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.
<http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept11/f7attach.pdf>.

Boilard, Steve. "The Master Plan at 50: Assessing Californias Vision for
Higher Education."Lao.ca.gov.Legislative Analyst's Office, 12 Nov. 2009. Web. 01
Mar. 2014.
<http://www.lao.ca.gov/2009/edu/master_plan_intro/master_plan_intro_111209.aspx>.

References

SB 724 as chaptered in 2005

Atkinson, Richard; Geiser, Saul. "Beyond the Master Plan:The Case for
Restructuring Baccalaureate Education in California." Center for Studies in Higher
Education, 2010.
Douglass, John Aubrey. The California Idea and American Higher Education.
Stanford University press, 2000.
Gonzlez, Cristina. Clark Kerr's University of California: Leadership,
Diversity, and Planning in Higher Education. Transaction Publishers, 2011.

External links

"The History of the California Master Plan for Higher Education," Center for
Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley with links to relevant documents and
legislation
University of California Master Plan website with copies of many relevant
documents
The Future of Flagship Universities, by Robert Berdahl, former Chancellor, UC
Berkeley
Clark Kerr's legacy: 1960 Master Plan transformed higher education, UC Berkeley
public relations office
Sections 66010.4 et seq. of the California Education Code (codified mission
statements, a portion of the Donahoe Act provisions of the Master Plan for Higher
Education)
The CSU Public Affairs Photo Collection on the Online Archive of California
encompasses photographic material from the late 19th century to the early 1990s and
collection finding aid provides history of CSU within Master Plan.
The History and Future of the California Master Plan for Higher Education
Brief Guide to the Master Plan

Categories:

California State UniversityUniversity of CaliforniaEducation in

CaliforniaEducation policy in the United States

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