UC and Cal State Will Offer Joint Education PhDs

A long-simmering dispute between the University of California and the California State University is at an end: The two systems have agreed to offer joint education doctorates, beginning in August.

The issue of the education doctorate--and Cal State’s desire to offer the degree on its own--had threatened to develop into a nasty legislative struggle between the two public university systems.

Although the state’s 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education makes awarding doctoral and professional degrees the sole province of the University of California, Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed had asked the Legislature to allow his 23-campus system to offer the education doctorate as well. The degrees are typically sought by school administrators.

Reed argued that the Cal State campuses, which are scattered across the state in more than twice as many locations as the nine-campus University of California, are better able to offer the degrees conveniently. In addition, he said, Cal State can provide them at a lower cost than UC and with instruction offered part time.

Reed said it makes sense for the university system that trains 60% of the state’s teachers and half of its school administrators to offer the degree.

UC President Richard Atkinson opposed Cal State’s independent push, which he said ran counter to the master plan and to the two schools’ traditional roles.

But Thursday, he and Reed expressed satisfaction that the dispute had been resolved.

“This is an outstanding deal that’s good for everyone: CSU, UC and the potential students who will go through the program,” Reed said. “The idea from the beginning was to make sure that these students would be served and to broaden access and make it part time so that students don’t have to quit their jobs to go to school.”

Atkinson described the deal, which will be announced Wednesday at meetings of the UC Regents and Cal State trustees, as a “good arrangement” that will benefit students across the state. He said it also preserves the spirit of the master plan.

Although specific UC and Cal State campuses have worked together to offer an education doctorate, Atkinson said the agreement means the program will be offered at many more campuses. It also marks the first time that the degrees will carry the “imprint” of the two systems, he said, not individual campuses.

Negotiated in meetings over the last six weeks, the deal means that Cal State will drop its legislative effort and the two universities will set up joint programs at campuses around the state. Some specifics have yet to be worked out, but the university leaders said they hope to launch the program on at least 10 campuses next year.

Each system will put in $2 million to get the program started and then seek permanent funding from the Legislature. Graduates will receive degrees that list both institutions.

Velma Montoya, a UC regent and former Cal State economics professor, said she had been troubled by the pending battle and was delighted to hear of the agreement.

“I really believe that California benefits from not having the fight over resources that occurs in states like Florida and Texas, and I’m very happy that we’re going to be able to avoid that,” Montoya said. “This just works out well for everyone.”