Inside a $17 billion maintenance backlog plaguing California’s universities
Every year, maintenance costs for University of California and California State University campuses total a combined $1.5 billion. But those repairs don’t always get made. The unpredictable nature of the state’s budget means there isn’t always enough money to make all the necessary fixes. State revenue has been sporadic, with hundreds of millions some years and no money in others. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2025-26 budget does not include any money for repairs, known as deferred maintenance, or other infrastructure projects. Absent a long-term funding plan, the deferred maintenance backlog has grown to an estimated $9.1 billion for the University of California and $8.3 billion for Cal State University as of the 2023-24 school year, driven by aging buildings and increasing costs for labor and parts.
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by Victoria Mejicanos, Matthew Reagan and Mercy Sosa, CalMatters.