| The University of California,
Los Angeles’ budget, as well as the other UCs, have gone through
major changes, especially within the past four years. As the state
has reached a massive deficit, the school’s budgets and programs
have been consequently reduced. The significant cuts in the school’s
budget have affected many areas of the school. And if the new budget
proposal of Governor Schwarzenegger is accepted, the cuts will only
worsen. The cuts have and will affect tuition, admission, staff,
faculty, internal programs, outreach programs, housing, and much
more. Even though the state believes these measures are necessary
and must be achieved, no one within the UC system, including students,
staff, and parents, agrees with the cuts nor believes it will benefit
the school’s programs or people in any manner.
On January 9, 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
issued a 2004-05 state budget proposal bureaucracy.
In the article, “Governor’s
Budget Proposal Cuts UC System,” the governor’s
proposal is outlined. The state has reached a massive deficit which
has consequently reduced school's budgets and programs. It states
that due to the $14 billion state budget deficit, there will be
a $372 million cut in the UC system’s budget. This will be
the fourth consecutive year of such cuts within the UC systems.
In 2004-05, the net state-funded operating budget will be 8 percent
below last year’s budget, which will be $2.67 billion, as
compared to $2.9. Regardless of the fact that enrollment has grown
by more than 15 percent within the last four years, resulting in
larger class size and even higher student
to teacher ratios, there has been a 16 percent decline in state
support and university funding. In the
same article, it states that “…every area of university
spending has been cut, student fees have increased significantly,
employee positions have been eliminated, and faculty and staff have
been denied cost-of-living salary increases.” The budget cut
has set back many programs, as well as jeopardized the positions
of the faculty. The UC’s have set up their own budget and
income table which is displayed in the website “UC’s
Budget for Current Operation.”The
table lays out the budget and proposal of the expenditure and income
of the 2003-04 school year. The information seems to be conflicting
to that of what Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed, for the table
shows that there are expectations for greater budgets than what
Schwarzenegger has planned to give the UC’s .
Enrollment is one of the areas that has been
affected, and will continue to be once the proposal is approved.
The proposal states that in fall of 2004 the UC freshman enrollment
will be decreased by 10 percent in order to save $24.8 million.
This will result in the rejection of a number of UC applicants who
have met the UC eligibility requirements. The governor proposes
a Dual Admissions Program in which the students attend community
colleges for two years and their tuition fees are waived. Following
the two years, the students will transfer to a UC school. There
will be $1.6 million provided for UC counselors to help prepare
the students for this transfer. In addition to lower admission rates,
the student fees will continue to increase. In the article, “Legislature
Adopts 2003-04 Budget with Deep Cuts to UC,” one of the
points UC President Richard C. Atkinson made is:
The governor and Legislature proposed a series of additional cuts
that UC will absorb through borrowing and student fee revenue.
The governor proposed $179.1 million in cuts to instructional
programs to be offset by student fee increases (of this amount,
$19 million was replaced by a spring 2003 student fee increase).
One of the major attractions of the UC campuses
were their low tuition fees, but due to the budget cuts the schools
will not have a significantly greater financial appeal over the
private schools, such as University of Southern California. The
students will also be liable for paying higher fees if they choose
to take more than 110 percent of the credit hours required for graduation.
The proposal also intends to decrease the state
support for most professional schools by approximately 25 percent.
It plans to make up for this loss by raising student fees. Graduate
programs such as, medicine, law, and business administration are
set to have around a 5,000 dollar fee increase. Another area that
is being negatively affected by the cut in the budget is administration
and libraries. The student to faculty ratio will increase from 19.7:1
to 20.7:1. A cut of five percent in spending on faculty will take
place. Also, there will be a 7.5 percent cut to academic and administrative
support, which includes the library.
The K-12 outreach program is also having its
funds eliminated by the state. The program works with children outside
of the UC system to help improve their academic performance and
prepare them for college. The state will eliminate approximately
$33.3 million in funding. In addition, their will be an elimination
of the remaining funding for the Digital California Project, which
is a project that provides public schools in California access to
the Internet. The proposal will also result in a five percent drop
in state-funded research. This reduction will add to the 20 percent
cuts from the past two years. There will also be no state funding
for the increase in living expenses of the faculty and staff. There
has been great concern about widespread layoffs, that have already
gone into effect. In the article “Q
& A with UCLA Budget Chief Steve Olsen,” Steve addresses
the budget crisis and the increasing concern for the layoffs by
stating, “At UCLA, we’re doing our best to minimize
the need for layoffs by keeping vacant positions open and utilizing
other options to generate salary savings. However, some units, given
their budget circumstances, may be affected more than others.”
Regardless of the efforts of the budget planners in trying to minimize
the negative impacts of the budget cut, there have been numerous
employees who were laid off, and even more who are at risk of being
reevaluated and close to being laid off.
One major concern to the universities and many
of its students student issues
at UCLA and applicants is the reductions of financial aid benefits.
Many low income students rely on financial aid university
funding to help them pay for school to obtain their college
degree. The budget proposes that the fee revues received by financial
aid from the UC be reduced from 33 percent to 20 percent. Furthermore,
there will be no increase in Cal Grants to help pay for the fees
that financial aids failed to pay for. The UC is concerned that
if the proposal does go into effect many low income students will
be unable to afford higher education. The UC has considered other
options and has proposed a program which will provide grant aid
to many students who come from low income families.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has created his
proposal in order to help the deficit that California has entered.
He hopes to help the people of California by turning the economy
around and raising the state’s funding and budgets. Unfortunately,
he has planned his mission in a manner that will work at the expense
of the students; the future doctors, lawyers, president, professors,
and other professionals. In the article “President
Dynes’ Statement on Governor’s State Budget Proposal,”
President Robert C. Dynes explains:
People across the UC system are working harder
with fewer resources to support them, all the while receiving
no pay increases and facing higher health premiums. In addition,
many of you are worried about the future of your programs, all
of which contribute to the University's tremendous impact on California.
President Dynes expresses his feelings, which
are shared by numerous California residents, toward the budget cut’s
affects on the UC system and its repercussions. I agree with President
Dynes’ position on the governor’s approach. As soon
as the state goes into any economic crisis, the school system becomes
one of the first institutions or programs that has a budget cut.
The government needs to realize the importance of a higher education.
The state government becomes hypocritical as they deal with education,
for they continuously try to push their ideas of how important education
is, and how important it is to have a prosperous state, but as soon
as there is any need for a budget cut, the public schools are one
of the first to be approached. California is a great state for it
has great resources. One of these resources is the excellent public,
university system. But as the budget cuts are persisting, the increase
in class room sizes, the increase in the tuition, the decrease in
the programs, the decrease in the faculty wages, and everything
else that will result will lower the appeal of the school and will
deny the students many things which they previously had access to.
I believe the governor should rethink his proposal, and acknowledge
the importance of the University of California and its position
in helping young people become the future professionals who will
soon be the leaders of the country.
Related Links
Board of Regents. “University of California
Primary Principles for the 2004-2005
Budget.” UC and the State Budget. January 14, 2004.
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget/.
Dynes, Robert C. “The President’s
Message.” UC and the State Budget. November
2003. http://budget.ucop.edu/rbudget/200405/message.pdf.
Office of Strategic Communication. “State
Budget Update.” UC and the State Budget.
December 2003.
http://www.ucop.edu/news/archives/2003/Budget%20fact%20sheet%209-17-
03.pdf.
“2003-2004 Student Fees and Deposits.”
Office of the President. February 12, 2004.
http://budget.ucop.edu/fees/200304/0304fees.html.
“2004-2005 Budget for Capital Improvements.”
Office of the President. November 2003.
http://budget.ucop.edu/capital/200405/BudgetCapitalImprovements.pdf. |