When former California Gov. Jerry Brown envisioned Calbright College barely five years ago, he saw California leading the country in virtual education by building an online-only community college that would target working adults seeking to improve their skills and move into better-paying jobs.
Today, just a year and a half since the embattled college opened its doors to students, Brown remains one of its chief defenders. He still sees the college as the public solution to predatory for-profit institutions that targeted adult and low-income workers in the state to pursue degrees and credentials, sometimes at the cost of excessive student loans.
by Cole Lauterbach, The Center Square | May 13, 2021 01:00 PM Print this article
A new report from California’s state auditor says an online community college program that’s eaten up more than $100 million in taxpayer funds should be eliminated after graduating only 12 of its 904 students enrolled.
State Auditor Elaine Howle released the 74-page report Tuesday, showing Calbright College had fallen far behind in accomplishing benchmarks set since its inception in 2018.
The online only community college’s goal is to offer free education to the state’s lucrative careers in trades that often require certifications.
“Calbright must show that its actual success can match its potential benefit and that it is worth the significant investment of public funds that the State has made,” Howle said.
The report accuses Calbright’s former leadership of laying the groundwork for a host of problems: inflated salaries, unethical hiring practices, too few supports for students. The report also flagged a lack of strategic planning by current leaders for approximately $175 million in state funding the college is slated to receive through June 2025.
“Because of these missteps, Calbright has struggled to adequately enroll the students it was intended to serve, took longer than it should have to develop a student support system, and did not adequately partner with employers in the development of its educational programs, thereby hindering its ability to assist its students in obtaining jobs,” Elaine Howle, the California state auditor, said in her report.
This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. May 12 to include new comments from former Calbright President Heather Hiles.
A long-awaited state audit of Calbright College, California’s exclusively online community college, criticized its previous leaders for overpaying some of its executives, lacking a strategy for spending state funds and failing to provide students with training and connections to employers.
In its two years of operation, Calbright has failed at its key mission of “enrolling adult students who cannot otherwise obtain postsecondary education,” concludes Elaine M. Howle, the California state auditor, in a report released Tuesday.
Larry Gordon/EdSource
Former Calbright College President Heather Hiles resigned after less than a year.