Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

After decades of strong governmental and public support, and despite strong evidence supporting the societal and individual benefits of a college degree, American public higher education is confronting a multi-layered crisis of confidence and funding. While the need remains for all that public higher education has to offer, the sector’s very mission and purpose have become the subject of political debate and disagreement, even as state funding levels fail to keep pace with rising costs, and changes in federal policies threaten public universities’ long-standing missions and values. UC Berkeley’s new chancellor, Rich Lyons, is working to launch a new era of excellence for his campus with the knowledge that many are watching how public higher education’s flagship university will take on a wide array of threats and opportunities at a time when the stakes could not be higher. He has a new vision for the Berkeley campus that centers innovation and entrepreneurship; new programs to bridge divides of perspective an