The stateâs staggering budget surplus and historic unemployment rates illustrate the split between Californiaâs haves and have-nots: A $76 billion chasm separates wealthy elites from underpaid workers. Vulnerable Californians were hit hard by the pandemic, and our colleges and universities must step up to help bridge this divide, especially for students forced to pause their education. Armed with more funding from the budget surplus, higher education institutions should roll out the red carpet for a new wave of students â out-of-work Californians, underpaid essential workers, and anyone else who had to âstop outâ of postsecondary education. We need to make higher education more flexible and feasible for the millions of Californians who now have the promise of new college funding on the horizon.