Public Higher Education in California

Public Higher Education in California offers a comprehensive analysis of the development, challenges, and transformations of California’s higher education system, particularly in the context of rapid expansion and societal upheaval. Published as part of the Western Center of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, this book situates California’s public higher education system as a bellwether for broader trends in American and global academia. The volume critically examines the impact of the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education, which sought to balance excellence and accessibility through a three-tiered structure—community colleges, state colleges, and the University of California system. However, as the essays in this collection reveal, rapid growth, institutional tensions, and external societal pressures led to significant structural conflicts and campus unrest, culminating in the upheavals of the late 1960s.

At the heart of the book is Neil Smelser’s compelling thesis that the sheer scale and speed of California’s higher education expansion contributed to its instability. The book further explores key issues such as the stratification within universities, the growing divide between the sciences and humanities, and the shifting role of the university in society. Contributions from scholars including F.E. Balderston, T.R. McConnell, and Talcott Parsons offer diverse perspectives on governance, financial policies, faculty dynamics, and ideological shifts. As the book argues, higher education in California—marked by its internal contradictions and external influences—serves as a microcosm of the challenges facing modern universities worldwide. Whether examining funding models, legal autonomy, or the evolving purpose of education, Public Higher Education in California provides crucial insights into the past, present, and future of academic institutions in an era of continuous change.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.