States are facing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Yet, despite these deficiencies in funds, state governors must assure their constituents that dangerous criminals will still be arrested, adjudicated and imprisoned. Experience shows that the best way to ensure public safety efficiently over the long run is to spend less on…

The number of students who want to get into the University of California topped 100,000 for the first time this year, including nearly 9,000 students seeking one of the 1,000 spots at the new campus of Merced. Two-thirds of the applications, or about 76,000, were from freshmen looking to attend UC's nine undergraduate campuses this fall, a nearly…

The Department of Justice and the state of Louisiana have reached agreement on a desegregation plan that calls for establishment of a community college network and spending on new programs and buildings at predominantly black Southern University of Grambling State University. The state's governance system, criticized as fragmented, will remain.…

Georgia's HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Economically) scholarship program, which provides financial reward to students in public and private colleges, universities, and technical institutes, is discussed in an interview with Juanita Baranco, a state system regent, and Stephen R. Porch, chancellor of the state system. Focus of these excerpts is…

Some Ohio legislators want to force financially troubled Central State University (CSU) to reunite with Wilberforce University, one of the country's oldest, private, historically black colleges. The two institutions split in 1927. CSU supporters of the merger would not change the private status of Wilberforce. Other merger options are under…

While Texas officials scramble to adopt race-neutral admissions and financial aid policies in the public higher education systems, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has opened an inquiry into system compliance with civil rights legislation. Texas is the only state that prohibits affirmative action in higher education…

Recent litigation charges that the state of Texas has not served Mexican Americans or African Americans equitably throughout the state and has failed to invest equitably in border colleges, perpetuating discrimination against Mexican Americans. Graduate programs are demanded in border institutions. (MSE)

The history of a federal court case in which 18 southern states were required to develop public college desegregation plans is chronicled. The status of those states is charted. Representatives of the states comment on the anticipated impact of the more recent United States v. Fordice decision on higher education initiatives. (MSE)

One of the few states to link reform in elementary and secondary education to higher education is Maryland, which is working toward linking statewide minimum competency testing to business hiring practices, college admission, and eventually even scholarship money. The plan is designed to end the need for remediation classes for recent high school…

An Ohio legislative plan that will keep Central State University open for two years but places substantial restrictions and conditions on the funding is criticized as threatening to cause the institution to fail completely. News of the restrictions is seen as adversely affecting recruitment and retention efforts and a presidential search, all…

In 1990 when African American governor of Virginia L. Douglas Wilder appointed an African American secretary of education, it signaled to many a concern for ensuring educational access for all Virginians. However, during the difficult economic period that followed, college tuition rose. Some remember his administration more for austerity and…

Nearly 30 years after the official end of de jure segregation, Alabama is struggling to level educational opportunities for both black and white citizens. Critics say this goal will be difficult to reach unless the state hires and retains more black faculty. Only recently, because of a court decree, are state black institutions getting equal…