Learn more about our past work on prison budgets and higher education
A March 1st SF Chronicle article highlighted recent comments made in Washington D.C. by retiring SF State President Robert Corrigan about California’s excessive prison spending and annual cuts to higher education. He noted that, “California is spending nearly as much money on prisons ($8.7 billion, or 9.45 percent of its budget), as it does on all of higher education ($9.3 billion, or 10.1 percent of its budget)”. Looking at just the UC’s and CSU’s, the state spends less than half ($4.6…
As a result of the race to incarcerate over the past three decades, CA has considerably expanded the budget allocation for corrections while simultaneously cutting the funds spent on higher education.
Class Dismissed: Higher Education vs. Corrections During the Wilson Years
Publications Oct 1, 1996
From Classrooms to Cell Blocks: How Prison Building Affects Higher Education & African American Enrollment in CA
From Classrooms to Cell Blocks: How Prison Building Affects Higher Education & African American Enrollment in CA
From Classrooms to Cell Blocks: A National Perspective
Publications May 1, 1994
Trading Books for Bars: The Lopsided Funding Battle Between Prison and Universities
In a time of fiscal crisis and increasingly limited discretionary spending, vast increases in prison spending will necessarily threaten both the quality and availability of higher education in CA.