This week the Regents of the University of California will meet in San Francisco, and I’m sure part of the discussion will be how to address the $417 million gap between the regents’ budget and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal for 2008-2009. The University has already decided that they will not try to reduce enrollment for this upcoming academic year to address the shortfall, so there aren’t a lot of good options left. Unless the funding level changes, they are likely to turn to fee increases and reductions in programs and services in the short term. In the long term the University may have to look at admitting fewer eligible students, which strikes directly at one of the core principles of the California master plan for higher education.
This year’s budget crisis for UC is the latest in a long string of funding problems. As a UC undergrad in the 1990s I saw my fees increase 24% in 1992, 22% in 1993, and 10% in 1994. This latest deficit is interesting though: in 2004, after experiencing yet another state budget reduction, the University negotiated a "compact" with Schwarzenegger, known as the Higher Education Compact, which guaranteed a modest annual increase in operating budget as well as funding to cover a 2.5% annual increase in student admissions. And while there is some contingency language in the agreement, the funding commitments were seen as minimum amounts needed to support UC’s mission:
The funding components of the compact are a floor, not a ceiling. The compact reflects the minimum level of state resources necessary to preserve quality and access in the two university systems. Additional funds can be made available when the state’s resources allow.
The Compact is still in effect, but in January Arnold announced that the California budget was once again in crisis mode, with a projected shortfall of $14.5 billion. In the University of California line item, the budget notes the guaranteed funding per the Compact, but then includes a general fund reduction of $331 million. So, technically the compact is still being honored, but when you give a 5% increase in one line and then impose a 10% cut in the next, it’s hard to see that as being in the spirit of the agreement. The end result of all this is that the Governor’s budget includes $417 million less than what the University had asked for to cover 2008-2009.
How will the University fill the gap? There are a few options and none of them are good:
- More increases in student fees – this allows UC to avoid reducing programs and eliminating classes, but it obviously puts the burden on the students and requires a commitment to increased loans and grants
- Cuts to programs
- Freezes in salary increases or salary cuts
- Cost reductions due to administrative restructuring
- Increasing reliance on private donors and other funding sources
It’s clear that despite the rhetoric of the 2004 compact, nothing has really changed when it comes to funding higher education in California. Of course this is just a symptom of the larger California state budget problem, but eventually the state of California will have to decide whether it wants to fund its "world class" university system or whether it wants to throw the master plan of higher education out the window.
Every UC regents meeting includes a Public Comment Period, during which the public can, well, comment on University matters. If you’re in the bay area and feel strongly about the future of the University of California, you can do so on Tuesday:
Date: March 18, 2008
Time: 10:15 a.m.
Location: UCSF–Mission Bay Community Center
1675 Owens Street, San Francisco