The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Since the enactment of the Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960, California’s system of postsecondary education has provided access and high-quality educational opportunities that have fueled California’s economic growth and promoted social mobility.

(b) In today’s global information economy, California’s national and international success as an educational and economic leader will require strategic investments in, and improved management of, state educational resources.

(c) Several factors, including changing demographics, rising costs, increased competition for scarce state funding, and employer concerns about graduates’ skills, present new challenges to higher education and state policymakers in effectively meeting the postsecondary education needs of Californians.

(d) Although the public segments of postsecondary education have each undertaken efforts to improve reporting and transparency, these efforts do not combine to indicate whether the postsecondary system as a whole is on track to meet the state’s needs.

(e) The absence of a common vision and common goals for California’s postsecondary education system hinders the state’s ability to effectively make critical fiscal and policy decisions.

(f) Policy and educational leaders should collectively hold themselves accountable for meeting the state’s civic and workforce needs, for ensuring the efficient and responsible management of public resources, and for ensuring that California residents have the opportunity to successfully pursue and achieve their postsecondary educational goals.

(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 367, Sec. 1. (SB 195) Effective January 1, 2014.)