SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; Drastic cuts to an already lean University
of California may soon force the UC regents to raise fees and cut
enrollment in order to keep the university running.
At their meeting at UC San Francisco on Wednesday, the regents
discussed priorities they would use to negotiate the budget with
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature.
They will negotiate with the governor and will vote on a final
budget at the regents meeting in March.
Larry Hershman, UC vice president of budget, outlined the eight
regental priorities, divided into long-term and short-term
goals.
These included maintaining the quality and ratios of graduate
students and providing financial aid to needy students in the short
term, and restoring enrollment levels and outreach in the long
term.
“We will be fighting very hard against more cuts. The
choices are all bad choices “¦ none of the options are
popular,” Hershman said.
State money for the UC will go down from $2.898 billion to $2.67
billion as a result of Schwarzenegger’s budget, which will
force the UC to raise fees and cut enrollment.
The budget proposes fee increases of 10 percent for
undergraduates, 40 percent for graduates and 20 percent for
out-of-state students.
The regents expressed concern about the impact the fee hikes
could have on the UC’s affordability and its ability to
recruit graduate students and remain a top tier university as they
vowed to work for a compromise.
“The concern I have for the university and the state of
California with the increased fees for graduate students is if it
results in a decrease in graduate students, it could potentially
hurt research and teaching,” said UC President Robert
Dynes.
But the cuts have made fee increases inevitable.
“We are going to approach the Legislature with facts and
the university’s importance to the state ““ all I can
say is that we will do the best we can,” Hershman said.
For this upcoming fall, the UC may have to consider accepting 10
percent, or about 3,200 fewer students than they did for the
2003-2004 school year. These students, who qualified for admission
to the UC, will still be accepted but will also be encouraged to
attend a community college ““ free of charge ““ for two
years. Upon completion, they will automatically transfer to a
UC.
“It is very tough to deal with a structural problem of the
size of the one we have “¦ there has to be pain and
misery,” Hershman said.
He added that the current round of cuts comes in addition to the
previous “tough years.”
The budget also contains a significant decrease in financial
aid, which will be particularly painful as fees increase. This
leaves few available options, but UC officials are exploring ways
to preserve access to the UC such as through shifting the available
aid to low-income rather than middle-income students.
The regents agreed that while many cuts are unavoidable, the
situation could be worse. Hershman said the governor’s
decision to make cuts everywhere, instead of just focusing them on
the discretionary parts of the budget like the UC, kept them from
being even worse.
While the regents’ discussion was focused primarily on
priorities, they touched on ways to mitigate the damage the cuts
will produce.
Bruce Darling, senior vice president of university affairs, said
Proposition 55, a $15 billion bond that will be on the March
ballot, is extremely important for the UC.
“If it doesn’t pass there will be serious
consequences for all education, but especially the UC,”
Darling said.
In addition, Dynes said Donna Arduin, Schwarzenegger’s
finance director, was receptive to the UC’s concerns and the
governor’s administration is aware of the UC’s
importance to California.
Dynes said the UC will begin developing a five-year plan to get
the university back on track. He said such a plan might make it
easier for people to deal with the first hard years.
“It will be tough at the front end, but people can hold
their breath,” he said.
“We can lay out a plan for fees so there won’t be
these big lumps “¦ if students and parents can look at the
next four years and say “˜this is what it is going to cost
me,’ that helps a lot.”