The University of California hopes to enroll nearly 3,600 more students next year, but is bracing for an impending budget shortfall that could make it difficult to pay for the enrollment increase.
University of California officials said Wednesday that the 10-campus university system will receive $504.7 million in 2025-26 if the state follows through on a warning earlier this year to cut higher education funding as it grapples with its budget deficit. told regents that they could face a financial shortfall. In addition to the decline in state funding, increased expenses are expected to fill the University of California’s budget, primarily due to faculty pay raises, higher contributions to retirement plans, and higher health care costs. .
“We’re facing a very tough budget year from the state,” Chief Financial Officer Nathan Brostrom told regents meeting this week in San Francisco.
Brostrom said the University of California wants to stick to its plan to increase California student enrollment, proposing to add 2,044 undergraduate students and 625 graduate students in 2025-2026. He insisted that was the “holy grail” regardless of state funding decisions.
But more questionably, if the state cuts funding to offset higher education losses, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC San Diego will receive much-needed funding instead of out-of-state and international students. The issue is whether to grant additional seats to 902 California students. Tuition fees paid by non-residents.
The University of California’s five-year plan approved in 2021 allows for one-time increases for each entering class, almost guaranteeing tuition increases for California, out-of-state, and international students. be done.
Regents are scheduled to vote Thursday on the 2025-26 budget, which is intended to list the University of California’s funding needs and priorities ahead of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed state budget in January. There is. UC plans to adjust its plan depending on what the state ultimately enacts in June.
The timing is difficult for the University of California. They will begin offering admissions in March before they know for sure how much state aid they will receive. But both the University of California and the state are prioritizing enrollment growth.
The University of California has been plagued in recent years by demands, including pressure from lawmakers, to give Californians more seats, and the University of California has been forced to accept more seats in California’s faculty in 2022-2023 and 2023-24. Approximately 7,800 additional students were enrolled. Preliminary estimates for this school year indicate each campus will enroll an additional 3,000 students, bringing California’s total undergraduate enrollment to more than 206,000, the highest in UC history.
The campuses hope to continue to add nearly 3,000 California undergraduate students each year from 2026 to 2027.
But how UC will finance that growth remains to be determined. The state’s final budget in June would reduce funding by 7.95% from 2025 to 2026, on top of a one-time deferral of about $240.8 million it promised as part of a five-year deal with Newsom. I told the University of California to expect this.
The agreement called for a 5% annual budget increase related to increasing California student enrollment, improving student success rates, closing the achievement gap, enhancing affordability, and supporting career training. . The state also directed UC to prepare a $31 million funding deferral to offset the financial hit from replacing nonresident students with California undergraduates at UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC San Diego. did.
The state will return some of the funding deferred last year, but the overall reduction will be 5.6%, or more than $270 million.
California State University is facing similar financial stress, with similar warnings about state funding cuts predicted to create a budget hole of between $400 million and $800 million. Some board members have expressed outrage at the state’s expectation to increase California enrollment and help students graduate to make up for anticipated workforce shortages while cutting funding to do so. There is.
At the University of California, student regent Josiah Beharie expressed frustration that the state might not honor its funding commitments.
“It’s very frustrating that we’re doing our part and it’s having a negative impact on campus,” said Beharie, a graduate student at the University of California, Merced.
At the same time, UC is facing increased spending and is expected to spend nearly $344 million more on employee pay and benefit increases. Planned enrollment increases will cost nearly $63 million, while new student financial aid and other tuition adjustments will cost more than $100 million.
The University of California is also requesting a $1.36 billion one-time grant from the state to renovate aging campus facilities and build new classrooms, labs and other projects. But officials acknowledged that the request would likely be denied given the state’s estimated $28.4 billion budget deficit in 2025-2026.
One of the new sources of funding in the University of California’s 2025-26 budget proposal is a proposed tuition increase of 3.5% for Californians and 9.9% for out-of-state and international students.
The five-year plan approved by the Board of Regents in 2021 allows for a one-time, inflation-aligned tuition increase for each class of incoming undergraduates, providing campuses with a stable source of income and predictable college costs. No further changes will be made for a period of up to 6 years. For students. With this tuition plan, a larger portion of the revenue collected went toward financial aid.
The proposed 9.9% increase would increase the additional tuition paid by non-residents to $37,602 on top of the $14,934 base tuition for all students in the 2025-26 academic year, which includes 3.5%. This includes a % increase in price.
The proposed nonresident tuition increase drew opposition from some students during public comment at Wednesday’s meeting. They praised the diversity that their peers from other states and countries bring to campus. Some criticized the University of California for proposing to give presidents big raises earlier this year while imposing additional financial burdens on students.
“You’re taking money out of the hands of the people who need it most,” said one student.
UC leaders acknowledged the November election during the meeting.
Academic Senate President Stephen W. Chan said the results raise myriad questions for UC, including whether funding for financial aid will be cut and fragile progress in racial and gender equity. He pointed out whether this would be a ruin, clean energy and fetal stem cell research would be buried, and access to medical care would be lost. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to bring sweeping changes to schools and universities.
Board Chair Janet Reilly opened the meeting by saying the results had caused concern, fear and anxiety in some people, and she shared those feelings.
She encouraged those distraught by the election to seek spaces of healing and pledged the University of California’s “unwavering commitment” to continuing to serve society through higher education, research and public service.
“To those who feel defeated, fearful and marginalized, we see you, and we are committed to being a supporting force to you now and in the future.” “I’m working on it,” she said. “We’re in this together.”
Source link
