California lawmakers under fire in university budget battles - Chris Megerian, LA Times

With anger bubbling on college campuses, spending on higher education is expected to remain a flash point as California lawmakers hash out this year's state budget. "Public higher education in California is really in a crisis, probably the most severe crisis that most of us have seen in a generation," said Jaime Regalado, emeritus professor of political science at Cal State Los Angeles. As more students take to the streets, he said, "it's going to become harder and harder and harder for the politicians to ignore." Since the 2002-03 academic year, state spending on the University of California and the California State University systems has fallen 42% when adjusted for inflation, according to statistics from Gov. Jerry Brown's administration. Undergraduate tuition and fees have nearly tripled in about the same period.