Poll finds Californians remain worried about college costs

Californians are increasingly worried about the cost of attending public colleges and universities -- even after voters approved new measures that are supposed to help limit tuition hikes, a new poll has found.

The Public Policy Institute of California poll shows that 65% of adults think that overall affordability of California’s state higher education is a “big problem.” That has been on the rise in recent years, up from 52% in 2008, results showed.

Voters recently approved Proposition 30, which is supposed to help avoid funding cuts to higher education through additional sales and income tax revenue. But even with those funds, 64% of people who answered the post-election poll said that the state budget situation is a major problem for community colleges, Cal State and UC.

Californians were closely divided on the issue of whether the state government can plan for the future of higher education: 50% said they have some or a great deal of confidence in the state government’s ability to do so while 49% said they had very little or no confidence in it.

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Photo: Every desk is taken in an Accounting 101 class at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa in 2011. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times