Less than two years since its inception, Calbright College is facing a state audit as people wonder where the money has gone.
Calbright, an online public college described as an alternative to traditional community colleges, promised to teach people more quickly and less expensively. On its website, it notes, “Calbright College was established with equity and accessibility in its roots.”
Former California Governor Jerry Brown championed the creation of Calbright, which has the mission of serving people who cannot readily access one of the state’s 115 existing community colleges. The cost to taxpayers — $100 million for development and $20 million per year for operating costs — was approved in 2018, Brown’s last budget cycle in office.
The college’s pilot programs began in October 2019, but already Calbright has had a shake-up in leadership with inaugural president and CEO Heather Hiles resigning in January. Ajita Talwalker Menon, who previously served under President Barack Obama as Special Assistant to the President for Higher Education Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council, is presently the interim president and CEO. She was hired on Feb. 27. The board of trustees is conducting a search for a new president/CEO.
Last week, the Joint Committee on Legislative Audit voted unanimously to audit Calbright College. Assembly woman Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton, was one of the lawmakers calling for the audit.
“When Brown proposed Calbright I had initial concerns,” said Quirk-Silva, who was a teacher in the Fullerton School District for 30 years and was first elected to the California State Assembly in 2012. “I knew we had a fairly robust online program within each community college. Not only that, but if there were courses that were not being offered online for students at one college, they could take them at another college because we had voted on that.”
Quirk-Silva said she tried to be optimistic as the legislation was passed and signed into law and the allocation of funds was made. She met Calbright administrators who assured her there would be robust programming. Hearing that Hiles had resigned was a red flag. Then, hearing enrollment numbers was another red flag.
