Monday, January 6, 1997
EDUCATION:
Governor’s proposal would add $67 million to budgetBy John
Digrado
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Students at California’s public colleges and universities may
dodge the budgetary bullet for a third straight year.
Gov. Pete Wilson’s new budget, which goes to the state
Legislature this week, would freeze tuition costs at colleges and
universities at their current level and may raise the amount of
financial aid that students receive from the state.
The budget earmarks $67.4 million to avoid a fee increase
requested late last year by university administrators as part of a
4-percent increase in operating costs to the California State
University and University of California systems.
In exchange for stable funding from the state, university
administrators planned to raise student fees by 10 percent each
academic year as part of a four-year "compact" between
administrators and Wilson.
The funds would effectively "buy out" the increase and raise
funding for the state’s Cal Grant and other financial aid
programs.
"It’s a terrific step," CSU Chancellor Barry Munitz said
Saturday after the proposal was released. "It obviously will
continue our commitment to access and affordability, and we’re
grateful."
Without the extra money, registration fees at UC schools were
expected to increase $415 this fall to $4,581. CSU charges would
have risen $195 to $2,130.
Community college fees will remain at $13 a unit  what
Wilson calls "the best bargain in America."
The proposal includes a $32.8 million increase in student aid,
raising the maximum grant to $9,105 annually from $7,164.
Student fees have tripled since the 1980s, but a rebounding
economy has allowed the state to pour more money into higher
education. Wilson’s budget plan contains at least $105.2 million
more than universities were expecting.
Wilson was expected to present details of his 1997-98 fiscal
spending plan to the Legislature on Thursday. Both houses must
approve and send it back to the governor for his signature by June
15.
Past buyouts of fee increases have come because of budgetary
holdups and partisan prodding in the Legisla-ture, said Assembly
Speaker Pro Tem Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica.
For the 1994-’95 academic year, fee hikes were avoided because
legislative Democrats "held up the budget," Kuehl said.
In 1995-96, there was sufficient state funding to pay for the
buyout, but the governor’s budget called for the 10 percent
increase. As a result, Democrats refused to vote for the budget
until Wilson agreed to buy out the increases, she said.
This school year, fee increases were averted by threatening to
tie up the budget once again.
"(The Democrats) said ‘Don’t make the same mistake (in ’96-’97)
because we said that (Wilson) would have the same problem," Kuehl
said. "So he put in a freeze and takes credit for it when he really
did it under the gun (in ’95-’96). It was one of the bottom lines
for us."
But the 1997-1998 fee buyout has come as a voluntary measure
from the governor, requiring no political ramrodding from the
Legislature.
"Good for the governor," Kuehl said. "This goes a long way to
making sure the best and the brightest can attend (college) without
increased financial barriers."
But some UC administrators claim that while Wilson’s action is
commendable, it is important to note that the compact was the
original reason for the fee increases.
"First he asked us to raise fees, then he comes galloping to the
rescue with a fee buyout," said UC Student Regent Jess Bravin. "I
think he deserves credit, but we shouldn’t forget that he is the
one that forced the (universities) to seek a fee increase in the
first place."
Seeking a long-term solution to the yearly increases, Bravin
noted that it is against the California Master Plan of Higher
Education to use student fees to pay for the cost of
instruction.
"We need a long-term strategy to return to compliance to the
Master Plan, not sort of a mad frenzy every year to … avoid a fee
increase," he said.
With reports from Daily Bruin wire
services.