A 9.6 percent tuition increase will be proposed to the University of California Board of Regents this month in response to a multi-million dollar cut in state funding last week.
UC officials announced the proposed hikes after Gov. Jerry Brown signed the new state budget last Thursday. The cuts come as Brown’s budget-balancing plan of tax extensions fell by the wayside ““ for months, the tax extensions were identified as a means of preventing cuts to the UC and the California State University system from doubling.
With the cost of attending a UC already at a record-high for students and families and the university on the chopping block for further cuts in the face of a deep state budget crisis, questions are being raised about the direction of the system.
“It may be a game changer,” said Charles E. Young, former chancellor of UCLA. “There’s a recognition that the state is an undependable and inadequate partner, and the university is going to have to do things in a different manner in the future.”
UCLA has already changed the structure of its degree requirements, left hundreds of staff positions vacant and turned its focus toward increasing the number of nonresident students and private donations.
“While we planned prudently and budgeted conservatively to absorb an anticipated $96 million reduction in state support in 2011-2012, the state’s new spending plan may necessitate additional measures,” Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement.
He added that the amount of reductions in funding for the campus is yet to be determined.
Brown’s budget also includes a mid-year “trigger” that would axe a further $100 million from the UC if an extra $3 billion to $4 billion in tax revenue does not materialize.
That makes planning difficult, and the forecast for next year especially unstable, said Daniel Mitchell, professor emeritus of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the School of Public Affairs.
Claudia Magana, president of the UC Student Association, said such measures mean that UC is increasingly losing sight of its commitment to affordability.
“In an effort to save quality, they are really sacrificing affordability and accessibility,” Magana said, referring to the three pillars traditionally held by the university system.
The UC typically raises tuition less than is necessary to make up for cuts, meaning that students are not getting the quality education they pay for, Young said.
He said tuition should be raised at a fixed rate per year ““ 6 or 7 percent ““ rather than sporadically increasing it by large increments.
“You can get to a point where the tuition is essentially providing for the core educational program of the university, and the funds that come in from the state are utilized to provide financial aid,” he said.
A high-cost, high-aid route has been suggested by members of the UC Board of Regents in recent months. This would put the UC more in line with models used by private nonprofit universities.
Mitchell said the UC has been mostly reactive in its response to declining state support.
“People hope for the best and then the budget doesn’t work out, so then they raise tuition and then hope next year will be better, but then it isn’t better,” Mitchell said.
Last year, UC President Mark Yudof and UC Board of Regents Chairman Russell Gould created the UC Commission on the Future to specifically study methods of making systematic, long-term changes. The commission, consisting of five working groups drawn from across all UC campuses acknowledged a “crossroads moment in (UC) history.”
The final report issued in November included recommendations such as increasing the number of nonresident students, relegating more authority to the campus level, emphasizing cross-campus cooperation on research and boosting private philanthropy.
The latest cut confirms the need to implement structural changes, and quickly, said Kenneth Green, director of the Campus Computing Project and former associate director of the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute.
“The UC goes through the current experience of budget cuts and raising tuition on a painfully regular basis,” Green said.