University of California President Mark Yudof recently approved a UCLA Anderson School of Management proposal that will make its full-time MBA program financially self-supporting, officials announced today.
The decision marks a significant milestone in the graduate school’s three-year-long battle to get the proposal approved and become more independent from state funding.
Once the proposal is implemented, Anderson’s MBA program will no longer rely on money from the University of California, which will allow the school to be more financially flexible. The change will provide the school with more predictable tuition rates and freedom when assigning faculty to the MBA program, said Judy Olian, dean of the Anderson School.
About $8 million funneled annually into the program will instead be distributed back to UCLA, according to a statement released today.
“This proposal is a win-win situation,” Olian said. “It’s rare that you can have a dual balance that’s a win-win (for the school) in the face of declining state support.”
In a letter sent to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block on Monday, Yudof outlined his decision. Yudof wrote that the Academic Senate, the Academic Planning Council and UC Provost Aimée Dorr worked to revise the proposal that was suspended by a UC Academic Senate committee last year.
Yudof approved the proposal given certain conditions, including a stipulation that the program must still provide financial aid to students in need proportionate to other UC-funded full-time MBA programs, according to the letter.
Representatives from the Academic Senate said they could not speak today about the issue.
Olian said she now plans to work with the University on a timeline for how to transition into the new financial model.
“We just received the letter two days ago,” Olian said. “We have to figure out quickly how to make these financial changes.”
Last year, the Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs, a UC Academic Senate committee, suspended a proposal for the MBA program to become financially independent.
The committee concluded that the proposal did not adequately explain why the program qualified to become self-supporting under the UC’s policy. The policy required self-supporting classes to be offered online, scheduled or located abnormally, or serve “non-traditional” students such as fully employed or international students.
Olian said the Anderson school indicated in the proposal that MBA students are “non-traditional” because they are professional students. She said she could not comment on whether Yudof approved the proposal because of the school’s data.
The committee also raised concerns about how it would benefit the graduate school or UCLA and how the shift would impact the UC.
Rachael Goodhue, former chair of the Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs, said in September that she thought the policy did not adequately address already existing programs that wanted to become financially self-supporting. In the past, the policy was applied to programs that were created to be self-supporting. For example, the Anderson School’s Fully Employed MBA program, which caters to students who are working full-time jobs, was created to be financially self-supporting.
In the letter to the chancellor, Yudof said the UC Academic Senate can decide on the academic quality of a program, but does not have authority over the resources and financing. Since the proposal only deals with the financial future of the school, Yudof said the decision is up to the UC Board of Regents and administration.
Yudof will end his tenure as UC president at the end of August. He wrote in the letter that he thought it was best for him to make a decision on the proposal before he left the office because he is familiar with the proposal.
Compiled by Sam Hoff, Bruin contributor.