(December 9, 2009) “Almost nothing is more important to the California economy than a strong, effective, quality higher education system,” California Chamber of Commerce Chair Frederick R. Ruiz told a legislative committee this week.

Testifying at a hearing on the reworking of the California Master Plan for Higher Education, Ruiz said the CalChamber wants to be part of the solution and urged committee members to keep job creation in mind.

“College graduates become professionals to run California businesses. They do research that creates new products, that create new businesses and that create new and higher paying jobs. This is the job-creation formula,” Ruiz told the committee. “We can’t lose sight of this formula as your work progresses.”

The December 8 hearing was the first of many scheduled on the restructuring of the plan designed in 1960 to help integrate the missions of the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU) System and the California Community College System. 

Reductions in funding from the state’s General Fund as California struggles with an immense structural deficit have put a strain on California’s higher education programs. 

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Ruiz, who represented California’s business community on behalf of the CalChamber at the hearing, is co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of Ruiz Foods and a member of the UC Board of Regents.

“Any business or organization under stress must, at a minimum, do a cost-benefit analysis of all their programs and determine how best to produce the greatest value,” Ruiz said. For example:

• Should our community colleges be more focused on a degree for lower division preparation and performance-based student success?
• Should UC rebalance its undergraduate v. graduate mission?
• Should CSU increase student population if it means longer undergraduate careers, or reduce enrollment and require graduation in four years? 

Changing Workforce

Ruiz emphasized the importance of considering the ever-changing landscape of California’s workforce. 

“It is imperative that we recognize tomorrow’s workforce will look very different than the workforce of today,” Ruiz said. 

Today, the state’s workforce is 60 percent white, but enrollment in California K-12 public schools shows a very different picture. Nearly half, 48 percent, of California public school students are Hispanic, 8 percent are students of color and 8 percent are Asian students—meaning less than a third, 30 percent, are white, Ruiz said. 

“California’s economic future is dependent on how well we educate the Hispanic students, the students of color and the Asian students in our public schools,” Ruiz said. 

While the landscape of the workforce changes, so will the supply of and demand for qualified employees. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that California’s higher education systems will need to produce an additional million college graduates by 2025 to sustain a growing economy. 

“We are falling short of that target now, as we did during the more recent, better budget years.” Ruiz said. 

Only 35 percent of California working adults are projected to have a college degree in 2025, but 54 percent of the jobs in the California economy at that time are projected to need a college graduate worker.

Affordability

Ruiz said access and affordability to a good higher education must be a factor when considering the new master plan. 

“It is vital that the state of California take responsibility for providing a reliable and sustainable funding formula that ensures California’s higher education systems can guarantee a quality college education to sustain the economic prosperity California has so long enjoyed,” Ruiz said. 

A new master plan with policies for coordination of efficiencies and focus can help California community colleges and the universities find new solutions that could become the institutional framework for the future. 

“Compromising the quality of our higher education programs is not acceptable,” Ruiz said.