If the question is upward mobility the answer is California colleges

On Feb. 1, 2017, Fox & Hounds published commentary from Loren Kaye, president of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, titled, “If the question is upward mobility the answer is California colleges.”  Here’s an excerpt:

What’s the most effective tool to improve economic mobility in California?

Higher minimum wage? No.
Mandatory employment benefits? Nope.
Higher redistributive taxes? Nada.

It’s the California State University and community colleges.

According to a landmark study for the Equality Opportunity Project, Stanford’s Raj Chetty and coauthors found that certain state and community colleges offer effective pathways to higher incomes for younger generations.

By looking at the mobility rate of every college in America, the authors found that highly selective colleges do well in channeling children from low- or middle-income families to the top 1 percent of the income distribution, but in one of the study’s most compelling findings — the colleges with the highest upward mobility rates are typically mid-tier public schools that have both large numbers of low-income students and very good earnings outcomes.

Of the top ten colleges in the country with the best mobility rates, three are in California: top-ranked Cal State Los Angeles, Glendale Community College and Cal Poly Pomona.

Read the complete article on the Fox & Hounds website.