Major elements of the Schwarzenegger Administration's 2004-05 proposal include:
Enrollments: UC's freshman enrollment in fall 2004 would be cut 10 percent, or approximately 3,200 students, below this year's level, saving $24.8 million. As a result, some freshman applicants who have met UC's academic eligibility requirements would not be granted admission to a UC campus this fall. The Schwarzenegger Administration is encouraging these students to attend community college through a Dual Admissions Program and proposes that their community college fees be waived. In addition, $1.6 million would be provided for UC counselors to work in community colleges, helping students prepare to transfer to UC.
Faculty: A cut of 5 percent ($35.3 million) in spending on faculty. The intention is to increase the student-faculty ratio to 20.7 to 1, now at 19.7 to 1. If this cut stands, the university likely would give campuses discretion to make the cut in a manner that preserves instructional programs as best they can.
Administration and libraries: A 7.5 percent cut to academic and administrative support, including libraries, on top of the cuts these areas already have taken. This is a $45.4 million reduction, in addition to a $36.5 million cut that occurred this year.
K-12 outreach: Elimination of all remaining state funding ($33.3 million) for UC's programs working with K-12 schools to improve academic performance and college preparation, particularly in educationally disadvantaged areas. These programs were cut 50 percent in the 2003-04 budget, and suffered a mid-year cut of $12.2 million.
Research: A 5 percent ($11.6 million) reduction in state-funded research, on top of the 20 percent cut these programs have taken over the last two years. In addition, $4 million in funding for one specific research program, the Institute for Labor and Employment, would be eliminated entirely.
UC Merced: UC's 10th campus would open in fall 2005. The budget provides $10 million in one-time funds to continue its de-velopment (in addition to $10 million in permanent funding). The campus estimated that $20 million in one-time funding was needed to maintain the original plan for opening, so modifications would be necessary.
K-12 Internet: Elimination of remain-ing funding ($14.3 million) for the Digital California Project, which brings the Internet2 to California public schools. The budget notes that K-12 schools could contribute voluntarily to continue the program.
Salaries: There would be no state funding, once again, for cost-of-living increases for faculty and staff. Because competitive compensation is key to the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff, UC is very concerned about this continuing trend.
Financial aid: The budget proposes a major curtailment of financial aid for UC students. Whereas increased financial aid has helped UC students weather prior fee increases, the governor's current proposal is to reduce the proportion of new fee revenue that UC directs to financial aid from 33 percent to 20 percent. In addition, the governor's budget does not increase Cal Grants to cover the proposed fee increase at UC.
If these proposals stand, UC would need to consider alternatives for preserving access for lower-income students, such as rescinding a program started just this year in which UC provides grant aid to many financially needy students with family incomes of between $60,000 and $90,000 per year.
Resident undergraduate fees: A 10 percent increase. Mandatory systemwide fees would increase by $498 from the current $4,984 per year to $5,482 per year. With the inclusion of campus-based miscellaneous fees, the systemwide average for resident undergraduates would be $6,028 per year.
The governor's budget also states the Schwarzenegger Administration's support for a long-term fee policy in which student fees would increase regularly in line with per-capita personal income, but not by more than 10 percent in a given year.
Fee surcharge for extra units: The budget proposes that undergraduates taking more than 110 percent of the credit hours required for graduation be charged at a higher fee rate, such as the nonresident rate or at the full cost of instruction. The budget suggests such a policy be phased in and assumes $9 million in savings the first year.
Resident academic graduate fees: A 40 percent increase. Mandatory systemwide fees would increase by $2,088 from the current $5,219 per year to $7,307. With the inclusion of campus-based miscellaneous fees, the systemwide fee average for resident academic graduate students would be $8,931 per year. The governor's proposal also contains a long-term policy goal that academic graduate students ultimately pay 50 percent more in fees than undergraduates.
Professional school fees: State support for the operation of most professional schools would be reduced by an average of 25 percent, with student fees filling the gap. Specific figures would vary, but for medicine, law and business administration, for instance, the fee increase would be roughly $5,000 -- without any provision for financial aid, which UC considers a high priority. The Schwarzenegger Administration exempted nursing from its proposal.
Nonresident tuition: A 20 percent increase, or $2,746 for undergraduates and $2,449 for academic graduate students. Out-of-state students also pay mandatory systemwide fees and campus-based miscellaneous fees in addition to nonresident tuition; the average annual total would increase to $24,672 for undergraduates and $23,968 for academic graduate students.
UC Regents are not expected to set fall 2004 fee levels until later this winter or spring.
The budget also contains a capital budget of $339 million in general-obligation bond funding for UC construction, earthquake retrofit, and infrastructure renewal projects. These funds are contingent upon voter approval of Proposition 55, a statewide education bond measure on the March 2 ballot.
The governor’s budget is available at http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/BUD_DOCS/Bud_link.htm. Updates on the budget situation are also available at the UC Davis budget page at http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/budget/.