Affordable Homes Earn High Marks at Cal State, Los Angeles Times
Many campuses are offering below-market houses and rentals as a way to attract and keep qualified faculty and staff.

Numbers of SFSU applicants see surge, Contra Costa Times
San Francisco State University has moved its fall 2004 application deadline up from May 1 to Jan. 16 to cope with growing enrollment and the state's fiscal crisis.

Sports medicine room on table for CSUSM, North County Times
A swollen ankle will no longer be a big pain in the neck for student athletes at Cal State San Marcos as the campus gets set to develop a fully equipped sports medicine room that would offer treatment of minor injuries and soothe weary bones.

Mix-up leaves biotech project at CSUS withering on the vine, Sacramento Bee
A project in genetically engineering crops to produce medicines began with exuberant hopes at Sacramento State. Now all that remain are two disheveled plants with one wrinkled red tomato.

Leader seeks higher CSUS profile, Sacramento Bee
With a new report showing that California State University, Sacramento, is a $743 million economic powerhouse in the region, President Alexander Gonzalez intends to market the information to raise millions of dollars to transform the 56-year-old campus.

CSUSM professor works for diversity in the lab, North County Times
Breaking down conventions is one of the main objectives of professor Keith Trujillo's work, thought he prefers to call it basic biomedical lab work.

Student's heart in fitness, Long Beach Press-Telegram
Health problems don't deter CSULB student from dream career.

UC Merced's Trials, Modesto Bee
It's a simple question with a $20 million answer. Can the University of California at Merced open in 2005?

UC Merced: Classes haven't begun, but faculty finds there's plenty to do, Modesto Bee
Creating a new University of California campus requires setting up cutting-edge curriculum and developing policies addressing everything from smoking to plagiarism.

UC Merced's 1st base at Castle, Modesto Bee
The real home of the University of California at Merced sits behind aging warplanes at Castle Air Museum, tucked away on North Hospital Drive at Castle Airport Aviation and Development Center.

Financial aid keeps UCs accessible, Contra Costa Times
As the threat of further fee increases at the University of California looms, it's easy to forget UC gives significant amounts of financial aid.

College aid plan may not feel cuts, Sacramento Bee
Cal Grants are popular with politicians and public -- but a lot of the money goes unspent.

Colleges, university all looking at new presidents in the new year, North County Times
The year in higher education -- for all three of North County's public institutions -- turned out to be very, well, presidential. [Covers CSU San Marcos search.]

Parade of presidents, Chico News & Review
Both Chico State University and Butte College saw the selection of new leaders this year, as popular presidents retired and were replaced in the midst of a worsening budget crisis.

Califonia Senate Bill 193 could help athletes but hurt college sports, San Mateo County Times
California Senate Bill 193 sure sounds like a good idea. More scholarship money for college athletes. The freedom to transfer to another school if your coach takes another job. Year-round medical coverage. Guaranteed four-year scholarships. The ability to hire a sports agent to seek career advice.

Unruly Students Facing Arrest, Not Detention, New York Times
In cities and suburbs around the country, schools are increasingly sending students into the juvenile justice system for the sort of adolescent misbehavior that used to be handled by school administrators.

Colleges Struggle to Help Black Men Stay Enrolled, New York Times
Women outnumber men at most colleges, but the gap is especially large among black students. Nationally, barely a quarter of the 1.9 million black men between 18 and 24 — prime college-going years — were in college in 2000.

Europe Weighs the Unthinkable: High College Fees, New York Times
Europeans, led by Britain, are rethinking their long-held belief that university education should be financed almost entirely by the state.

Default Rates on Student Loans Are Down, but Figures Are Deceptively Low, Report Says, Chronicle of Higher Education
The rate at which borrowers default on their student loans has dropped to new lows in 9 of the last 10 years.

Some States See the Beginning of an Upturn, Chronicle of Higher Education
As legislatures convene, prospects for higher education are slightly better after two bad years.

Young adults starting out with huge debts, San Jose Mercury-News
Numerous studies have shown that more and more young adults are starting out with huge debts. Undergraduate student loan debt has shot up 74 percent in the past four years, according to student loan provider Nellie Mae. In the Bay Area, that burden is even heavier.

Monday's Debate: College Affordability, USA Today
At the University of California at Los Angeles, tuition soared 43% this school year. At Arizona State University, tuition rose 39%. Across the USA, costs at four-year public colleges increased 14% on average, not counting hikes for room, board and fees.

Opinion: Beyond a Stereotype of Southern Universities, New York Times
The nation as a whole seems to associate Southern universities only with athletic prowess, while academic triumphs are played down or ignored.

Opinion: Cuts to Student Outreach Threaten Universal Access, Los Angeles Times
The recent death of University of California president emeritus Clark Kerr makes me wistful about California's master plan for higher education, a 40-year-old, doorstop-sized blueprint for the college and university education of the state's students.

Daniel Weintraub: Arnold ought to question everything the state does, Sacramento Bee
This week marks the start of the second phase of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's young administration.

Opinion: What Schwarzenegger should tell California: Invest in the future; give higher ed a break, Sacramento Bee
Great companies invest for the future, even in difficult times. California should follow their example. These investments will improve our economic competitiveness and bring hope and a better quality of life to California families.

Opinion: What Schwarzenegger should tell California: Give teachers more say-so, Sacramento Bee
The condition of California's public school system is appalling! Recent results from the highly regarded National Assessment of Education Progress show that California is tied for last among the 50 states in eighth-grade reading and 44th in eighth-grade mathematics.

Dan Walters: Schwarzenegger to set stage for huge battle over budget, Sacramento Bee
We've seen it dozens of times, from Enron to Parmalat. And it's what happened to the state of California, which expanded spending by $8 billion a year in 2000 after receiving a one-year windfall of income tax revenues and has been running up debts, some of them concealed, ever since to cover its deficits.

Dan Walters: 2004 will make state political history, but what kind will it be?, Sacramento Bee r
The great story of 2003 is how Californians became disgusted with the dysfunctional status quo and traded in a self-proclaimed Democratic centrist for a self-proclaimed Republican centrist.

Editorial: Schwarzenegger's Big Week, Los Angeles Times
This is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's big week. By Tuesday, he'll put forth his vision for the state. By Friday, he will reveal the details of how he intends to deal with the state's nearly unabated fiscal crisis.

Editorial: LAUSD's Twin Challenges, Los Angeles Times
Last week's release of reading and math scores from 10 urban districts across the country delivered a sobering reality check to the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Editorial: Charting a Better Course, Los Angeles Times
Belief in charter schools was part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign.

Peter Schrag: Working to reform California's school funding mess, Sacramento Bee
What the state has now isn't just unfair and inadequate for millions of children, especially poor kids; it's irrational, incomprehensible and inefficient.

Governor's Budget Bill Comes Due, Los Angeles Times
Schwarzenegger has said he can set state finances straight without raising taxes. He will lay out specifics in his official proposal this week.

Backers plan big push on bond, Sacramento Bee
It's not exactly the sort of package a new governor wants to take to voters as his first big ballot test. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking Californians to refinance a pile of existing state debt, then borrow a little more.

Severe cuts anticipated for state's '04 budget, Oakland Tribune/AP
Saddled with a shortfall of at least $14 billion and a promise not to raise taxes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is likely to release a budget next Friday with few surprises -- it will contain cuts, cuts and more cuts.

NOTE: For additional political coverage, visit the Rough & Tumble website.

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