Sacramento, Calif., July 1, 2024 – Calbright College President and CEO Ajita Talwalker Menon today applauded Governor Newsom and state Legislature’s decision to include full funding for Calbright in the final 2024-2025 California state budget, which was signed into law this past weekend.
“Calbright College launched six years ago with a mission to reimagine higher education and create opportunities for people who are too often left behind by the traditional education system,” Menon said. “In just a few short years, we have grown rapidly with our enrollment increasing by more than 2,000 students last year alone. With a student body of about 4,500, over 70% of which identifies as BIPOC, it’s clear that our flexibly paced programs and robust student support efforts are successfully creating equitable access to economic mobility while filling critical higher education gaps. That is why I am thrilled that Governor Newsom and the California Legislature have continued to invest in our learners by including full funding for Calbright in the 2024-2025 state budget.
“Calbright’s successes are a testament to our effective learning model, the committed faculty and staff who believe in our mission, and above all, the learners who have chosen to advance their careers through Calbright,” Menon continued. “With full funding, Calbright will advance our student-centered design – a model that our students repeatedly validate as critical to their success – while also broadening our skills-based curriculum, responding the evolving needs of our students, and boosting our research and design-driven approach to strengthen student outcomes. All the while, we can continue to share these solutions to get working age adults off the sidelines and into good jobs across the California Community Colleges system and the entire higher education system.”
“Central to Calbright’s mission is ensuring equitable access to higher education for all learners in California,” said Amy Costa, president of the Calbright College Board of Trustees. “The funding included in the final 2024-2025 state budget will enable the College to continue creating meaningful opportunities for adult learners and underserved communities in higher education. Calbright’s upward trajectory, coupled with the support of this funding, will continue providing economic growth to the least served Californians.”
Calbright has made strides to become a leader in higher education innovation. Last year, the College was granted initial accreditation from the Distance Education Accrediting Commission more than a year ahead of the April 1, 2025, deadline outlined in the College’s founding legislation.
Calbright’s 2023 Student Experience Survey also found that more than half of graduates experienced a positive labor market outcome within a year of program completion, and nearly 80% of respondents accomplished the goal they set out to achieve when they enrolled.
About Calbright
Calbright College is a new kind of community college designed to support the needs and goals of adult learners. Established in 2018, Calbright is a statewide, online, and flexible California Community College that offers accessible and career-focused programs—based on in-demand skills from IT to CRM Platform Administration to Data Analysis. Calbright’s free and flexibly paced model, which utilizes competency-based education, adapts to the schedules of California’s working-age adults to provide the rigor of higher education without the logistical hurdles of a traditional institution.
