Education

Main article: Education in California

See also: List of colleges and universities in California

Public secondary education consists of high schools that teach elective courses in trades, languages, and liberal arts with tracks for gifted, college-bound and industrial arts students. California's public educational system is supported by a unique constitutional amendment that requires a minimum annual funding level for grades K–12 and community colleges that grows with the economy and student enrollment figures.^[144]
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 50 states and 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 lower.^[145]
A 2007 study concluded that California's public school system was "broken" in that it suffered from over-regulation.^[146]
California's public postsecondary education offers three separate systems:

• The research university system in the state is the University of California (UC), a public university system. As of fall 2011, the University of California had a combined student body of 234,464 students.^[147] There are ten general UC campuses, and a number of specialized campuses in the UC system. The system was originally intended to accept the top one-eighth of California high school students, but several of the schools have become even more selective.^{[citation needed]} The UC system was originally given exclusive authority in awarding Ph.Ds, but this has since changed and the CSU is also able to award several Doctoral degrees.
• The California State University (CSU) system has almost 430,000 students, making it the largest university system in the United States. The CSU was originally intended to accept the top one-third of California high school students, but several of the schools have become much more selective.^{[citation needed]} The CSU was originally set up to award only bachelor's and master's degrees, but has since been granted the authority to award several Doctoral degrees.
• 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 112 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, the California Institute of Technology, and the Claremont Colleges. California has hundreds of other private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions.