Education spending will be hit hard in this year’s budget cuts. Nine billion dollars of education spending has been cut from the budget. What does this mean for school systems in California? A rough year. With the unemployment rate over 11% and the housing market still in shambles, the Californian economy has had a rough year and state programs will bear the brunt of the budget deficit.

The number of students per classroom will undoubtedly rise and supplies will be limited. Although California is already projecting a shortage of college graduates to fill future employment needs the University of California and California State University systems will face budget cuts as well. Enrollment will be reduced by 40,000 students this next year – in a state where only 56% of high school graduates go onto college. Tuition and fees will increase by at least 10 % while community colleges may charge significantly more. This will undoubtly hurt higher education in the state as well, but with such large defecits there were limited alternatives. The numbers are scary, but they speak for themselves.