Monday, 8/11/97 Proposal calls for more funds, cap on student
fee hikes EDUCATION: Bill passes Assembly, now under review in
state Senate
By Anand Patel Daily Bruin Contributor Routine rumors about
significant budget cuts and student tuition hikes may soon be myths
of the past. If passed, the Higher Education Partnership Act of
1999 would ‘lock in’ monies for higher education for the first time
in California history. The act would create a cap on further fee
increases and would keep funding for higher education at its
current proportion of the state budget. The plan would even
increase higher education’s share of the pie, according to the
annual growth in per-capita income. "There is no legislation more
critical to the future of the university," said University of
California (UC) President Richard C. Atkinson in a statement.
"(This act) represents a commitment to provide the university with
what we need to continue to offer excellent and affordable public
education." The proposal, authored by Assembly Speaker Cruz
Bustamante of Fresno, has passed the Assembly (69-9) and is
currently pending in the state Senate. "It showed real bipartisan
support in the Assembly floor and I am feeling pretty confident
that it will be passed," said Ted Lempert, chair of the Assembly
Higher Education Committee and a co-author of the bill. "Hopefully
it will be approved by the Senate sometime later in the month."
"You hear that higher education is the top priority, but the key is
to make sure it is the top priority in the state’s budget and
future," Lempert continued. If passed, California would be required
to provide the UCs and California State Universities (CSU) with at
least their current proportional share of the state’s general fund
budget, starting on July 1, 1999. "If we are to provide our
children with the same opportunity we enjoyed, California must have
a plan," Bustamante said. "Assembly Bill (AB) 1415 affirms the
state’s long-term commitment to quality education and does so
without hurting areas of the budget or doing economic harm to
students and their families." California is currently allotting
approximately 12.9 percent of the general fund to higher education.
More than 4 percent of the general fund is earmarked for the UCs
specifically. The bill would also provide additional funds to
support enrollment growth. However, this funding would not be an
annual guarantee to UC and CSU. Instead, it would be based on
adjustments to the state budget according to the annual percentage
change in the California per capita personal income. According to
the bill, in years when the state cannot provide adequate funding,
they would provide extra funding in subsequent years, thus
offsetting the need for dramatic student fee hikes. In return, the
UC and CSU would be required to abide by several criteria. First,
in years when the state’s educational budget is insufficient,
student fees could be raised by no more than the percentage
increase in per capita personal income. In addition, the bill would
prohibit any new campus-based fees not in effect on January 1, 1997
from being imposed without receiving approval from a student
referendum. "It allows us time to plan for a stable budget that we
haven’t had in the past," said UC Regent Meredith Khachigian. "It
will also help us rely less on student fee increases. Hopefully we
wouldn’t have to impose any increases at all." The state’s last
long-term fee policy, which stated that all system-wide fee
increases were to be gradual, moderate and predictable, was
suspended due to unforeseen budget cuts during 1991 and 1992. In
1992, student fees were raised by 50 percent in one year. In the
last two years, growth in the state’s economy has provided funds to
avoid any further fee increases. No official agreement exists
between the state and UC regarding funding stability and
limitations on fee increases. However, AB 1415 provides mandatory
state funding and limits on student fee increases that would help
keep fees moderate and predictable on a long term basis. "AB 1415
is significant, especially after seeing the fees skyrocket in the
early ’90s and seeing higher education getting smaller portions of
the budget year after year," Lempert said. "It will benefit
students now and students to come. It is particularly unfair when
one class of students see very few increases, while another class
has significant fee increases." Under AB 1415, the stable funding
would help allow both UCs and CSUs to honor the Higher Education
Master Plan. This plan, created more than 30 years ago, envisioned
a system of higher education characterized by low fees and access
to higher education for all Californians. According to the plan,
the UC system would accept all eligible high school graduates in
the top 12.5 percent of their graduating class while the CSU system
would admit the top 33.3 percent. Under AB 1415, the state would
also provide students with the college courses they need to
graduate on time, increase academic outreach efforts, and set aside
at least a third of increased fee revenue for financial aid. "I
feel very positive about this plan. It provides a close
relationship between the state and the UCs, and it also sees us as
partners to promote excellence in California post-secondary
education," Khachigian said.