The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)
The San Joaquin Valley is the most populous region of the state without a University of California campus, and has one of the lowest rates of college participation of all regions in California. The San Joaquin Valley consists of the following counties: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne.
(b)
The San Joaquin Valley sends fewer than 5 percent of its high school graduates to the University of California, a smaller proportion than the statewide average of almost 8 percent of high school graduates who attend the university.
(c)
Access to postsecondary education is determined, in significant measure, by a student’s proximity to college campuses.
(d)
California’s economic, social, and cultural development depends upon popular access to an educational system that prepares all of the state’s inhabitants for responsible citizenship and meaningful careers in a multicultural democracy.
(e)
The southern San Joaquin Valley is home to a large population of Chicano and Latino Californians, a group that has been historically underrepresented among the University of California student body.
(f)
Current projections indicate that California must prepare to accommodate more than 700,000 additional students in its public postsecondary educational institutions within the next 12 years.
(g)
In 1988, the Regents of the University of California adopted a long-range enrollment plan to expand the capacity of the university to accommodate an estimated 65,000 additional students by 2005.
(h)
California has suffered a severe fiscal crisis that resulted in the underfunding of the University of California and the regents suspending actions and plans to construct additional campuses.
(i)
The Legislature recognizes that long-term planning for California’s future higher education needs must continue despite the short-term scarcity of resources.
(j)
The Legislature is committed to planning for expansion of its higher education system, with particular emphasis on quality undergraduate education, student and faculty diversity, improved transfer and retention programs, and effective accountability mechanisms.
(k)
As evidenced by the adoption of House Resolution 24 and Senate Resolution 18, the Legislature is committed to providing financial support to the University of California for the purpose of meeting the increased need for higher education created by growth in the state’s population.