California has boasted the quality of its higher-education systems for years. However, it is alarming that the state of California currently does not seem to appreciate the quality of its higher-education system.
Due to a structural deficit, the higher-education systems of California ““ the University of California, the California State University and the community college system ““ stand to lose about 10 percent of their yearly budgets.
Right now the state of California faces a major structural deficit that has left it trying to find ways to pay for schooling, health care, correctional facilities and other parts of the state government. This deficit has left a $417 million gap between the budget proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the budget the UC system feels is needed to continue operating at its current level.
Unfortunately, the deficit being what it is, the higher-education systems now must cope with these budget cuts and figure out a way to make do with what they will get under the new state budget. This budget cut will lead to higher fees for students and the possibility of a lesser quality education within the UC system itself.
The problems that the budget cuts could have for UCLA students are numerous and alarming.
For instance, UCLA has prided itself on being a flagship school of the UC system that can also provide for low-income students. However, fee hikes will do away with that image.
“(A fee increase) can have an effect to the point where low-income students choose to go elsewhere,” said Jose Luis Santos, assistant professor in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. “Maybe it won’t be a result of this fee increase itself, but over time that may be the result.”
The current UC Board of Regents’ plan, along with the governor’s proposal, includes a 7 percent increase in student educational fees and a 10 percent increase in registration fees. Santos said that while for some students the increase may not be hard to deal with, lower-income students may decide to go to community college for two years before coming to a UC rather than going straight into the UC system.
That, however, is not the only effect that the budget cuts will have on UCLA and the UC system as a whole.
“The budget cuts may make it harder to conduct community outreach programs, and that could change what enrollments may be like,” Santos said.
Furthermore, students here at UCLA will certainly feel the impact. Some programs around campus have anticipated the effects of the budget cuts already.
For instance, the Academic Advancement Program, which looks to aid first-generation college students among others, just celebrated its 35th year on campus.
However, as a result of budget cuts, AAP’s tutoring program, which helps many students succeed in their classes, will have to downsize and reduce the number of courses for which it can offer tutoring.
Unfortunately, very little can realistically be done to improve this situation for California students. The California state legislature can’t meet the 60 percent majority needed to pass a tax increase that would counteract the effects of budget cuts and relieve the higher-education system.
Furthermore, institutions across the state that are just as important as higher education, such as health care, also have to deal with budget cuts, and it is unrealistic to say that higher education should be spared from cuts at the expense of such important programs like health care.
California is currently at a political and economic crossroads, and it must assess its goals for the future.
The state’s education system has rightly been placed among the best in the country for years because of the importance it has put on making sure students get a quality education; the coming years may determine if California can continue to hold such an honor.
In the face of budget cuts, this quality education is at risk. If low-income students can no longer afford to go to UCLA because of fee increases, UCLA will become a college for middle- to high-income students, losing its reputation as a school for the brightest minds and becoming a school for those with the highest incomes. Furthermore, budget cuts may lead to more crowded classes and will cause a decrease in services such as AAP available to students.
Despite the cons that go along with going to a public school, students of UCLA and the UC system in general have been able to deal with them by knowing that they were a part of one of the best institutions in the country.
California must not lose sight of these standards simply to make do with a bad budget.