California faces an increasing demand for affordable higher education and a need for adequate facilities suited to a rapidly evolving economy. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) estimates that by 2030 the supply of college graduates will fall 1.1 million short of workforce demand. This report is an overview of California's higher education capital finance challenge. After providing context for the conditions that led up to this point, it outlines the specific circumstances each system faces. It concludes with broad recommendations for enabling the state to align its higher education capital investments to its future economy needs. [This report was written with research support from Dennis Su. Technical appendices to this report are available on the PPIC website.]