California

From Researching Virtual Initiatives in Education

California is a state in the west of the United States. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the south-east, Mexico to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

The state of California

The most populous state in the US, the 2010 census records 37.2 million inhabitants. The state capital is Sacramento, and the largest city is Los Angeles. California is known as The Golden State.

Education in California

California had over 6.2 million school students in the 2005–06 school year. Funding and staffing levels in California schools lag behind other states. In expenditure per pupil, California ranked 29th of the 51 states (including the District of Columbia) in 2005–06. In teaching staff expenditure per pupil, California ranked 49th of 51. In overall teacher-pupil ratio, California was also 49th, with 21 students per teacher. Only Arizona and Utah were poorer.

California's public post-secondary education system offers a unique three-tiered system:

1. The preeminent research university system in the state is the University of California (UC) which employs more Nobel Prize laureates than any other institution in the world, and is considered one of the world's finest public university systems. There are ten general UC campuses, and a number of specialized campuses in the UC system.
2. The California State University (CSU) system has almost 450,000 students, making it the largest university system in the United States. It is intended to accept the top one-third (1/3) of high school students. The 23 CSU schools are primarily intended for undergraduate education.
3. The California Community Colleges system provides lower division coursework as well as basic skills and workforce training. It is the largest network of higher education in the US, composed of 110 colleges serving a student population of over 2.6 million.

California is also home to such notable private universities as Stanford University, the University of Southern California (USC), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the Claremont Colleges (including Harvey Mudd College and Pomona College). California has hundreds of other private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions.

For more details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_California.

Virtual schools in California

"California has extensive online education activity, including a state-led initiative in UCCP Prep and roughly 25 online charter schools and district programs, many of which are supplemental." For more information, see: http://kpk12.com/states/california/

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California
• http://www.census.gov/popfinder/
• http://kpk12.com/states/california/

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