Date: 2010-03-03
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I want to thank Ms. WOOLSEY from California. a cosponsor and great supporter of this resolution and of education in California. Mr. Speaker. I rise today as the proud sponsor of the resolution congratulating the California State University system on 50 years of providing highquality. accessible. and affordable education. I want to thank my colleague. WALLY HERGER. for introducing this resolution with me. As has been mentioned. the CSU system is the Nations largest and most diverse university system. It includes 23 campuses and seven offcampus centers. with 44.000 faculty and staff and almost 433.000 students. The California State University system was created in 1961 under the master plan. about 50 years ago. but San Jose State University preceded it. San Jose State University is the oldest university in the system. Its in my district. and its in my neighborhood. It was founded in 1857 in the basement of a high school in the Bay area. That first class had four graduates. all women. and San Jose State has obviously grown since that time. Its based in the heart of what is now Silicon Valley. San Jose State now is the single largest provider of engineers in Silicon Valley. The university sits on a 154acre campus in downtown San Jose and has over 30.000 diverse students. It is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a top 15 masters level public institution in the West. San Jose States population. like many of the other CSU campuses. is a representation of the diverse community that it serves. Many of its students are from immigrant families and are the first in their families to attend or graduate from college. San Jose State University is also redefining what a traditional student is. as over a quarter of the undergraduates at the university are over the age of 24. Surrounded by Silicon Valley. students are able to supplement their classroom knowledge with handson experiences at many of the innovative firms and agencies in the Valley through internships. summer programs. and research assistance. All of the CSUs. including San Jose State. play a critical role in preparing students for Californias economy. With 91.000 annual graduates. the CSU is the States greatest producer of bachelors degrees. These students then help drive Californias economy. And according to CSU. for every $1 the State invests into the CSU system. the CSU returns $4.41. CSU sustains more than 200.000 jobs in the State. And CSUrelated expenditures create $13.6 billion in economic activity. Often referred to as the "Peoples University." CSU reaches out to Californias growing underserved communities. CSU provides more than half of all undergraduate degrees granted to Californias Latino. African American. and Native American students. In fact. the Chancellor. Dr. Charles Reed. is here with us today and told us at our delegation meeting today about the outreach efforts into African American churches on Sunday to tell families. 100.000 families in California about the opportunity that CSU presents to those families. Minority enrollments and graduation and success is up among Latino families. among African American families. among families who didnt really see a way for their kids to move forward. We know that there have been cutbacks. but the California delegation and President Obama have worked to preserve and improve affordability. Almost 190.000 CSU students will pay no fee increases due to increases in the State University Grants. Federal grants. and CSU fee waivers. So the Recovery Act has provided millions of needed dollars to the CSU. It has provided an additional $81 million for 120.000 of CSUs neediest students through the Pell Grant program. It also provided $76.5 million to restore classrooms that would have been cut so that students can graduate in 4 years. Mr. Speaker. I gave the commencement speech at San Jose State last year. And as I looked out over the student body. I saw thousands of young people. and some not so young. who had a dream. whose family never thought that their kids would have a chance to get an education and bite off a part of the American dream. Because of the CSU system. they are really part of our future. I am really thrilled to be part of honoring CSU. and also noting that the entire California Democratic delegation has cosponsored this resolution. I thank my colleague for allowing me to speak. and I urge passage of the resolution.