Newsom raised eyebrows Jan. 19 when during his first University of California regents meeting (the lieutenant governor always sits on the UC and California State University boards) he suggested the university challenge the $500 million in cuts Brown has proposed. But less than two weeks later, Newsom was far more complimentary as he introduced the governor before Monday’s State of the State address: "This is an honest and realistic budget that doesn’t fall on one person, one party or one level of government," Newsom said. "We all own this, and together we must muster the courage to step up and see the bigger picture and encourage everybody in the state to be part of the solution."

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by Marisa Lagos, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: February 5th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

A full 25 percent of borrowers who attended for-profit colleges and entered repayment on their loans in 2008 had defaulted within three years. By comparison, 10.8 percent of those attending public institutions defaulted and 7.6 percent of those attending private institutions defaulted… "You do see some signs of inconsistent quality in [the for-profit] sector, and [we] have reason to believe students aren’t being well-served," an Education Department official said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. High default rates in the three-year cohort, the official continued, suggest that some institutions have been gaming or "managing their default rates aggressively" to push them beyond the measurement window.

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by David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed.

Posted: February 4th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Republicans leading the U.S. House of Representatives proposed on Thursday a 9-percent single-year cut in nondefense discretionary federal spending, making clear the huge challenge confronting President Obama and his pledge to largely spare scientific research from the overall need for deep budget reductions… House Republicans, who gained a majority in the chamber in last November’s elections, stopped short Thursday of specifying exact amounts for agencies such as the NIH and NSF. But university leaders immediately began viewing the outline with alarm, especially given that the 2011 fiscal year is already more than one-third complete. That means the full-year percentage cutbacks would be even larger when applied to the unspent portion of each agency’s annual budget.

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by Paul Basken, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Posted: February 4th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Data released by the Department of Education today show that while the official loan-default rate for students of for-profit colleges who entered repayment in 2008 was 11.6 percent, the rate would be more than double that, or 25 percent, under a stricter measurement standard that begins to take effect next year… Congress changed the measurement period in 2008 in response to concerns that the two-year rate didn’t adequately capture the depth of the loan-default problem, because colleges and loan companies could use "default management" techniques to push many borrowers with repayment problems beyond the two-year window… In the aggregate, rates for public and private nonprofit colleges also rose, but not by as much.

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by Goldie Blumenstyk, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Posted: February 4th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

As the UC sails into uncharted financial waters, many fear that members of the university’s world-class faculty will jump ship for the fatter paychecks waiting at private institutions. But this fear, stemming from a long pattern of professors being recruited away from the UC, is pushing the university down the wrong path in its approach to retaining faculty, according to UC faculty members who contend that administrators are blinded with dollar signs and ignore – and allow to degrade – the aspects of the university that initially attracted those professors to the institution… As all levels of the UC administration play the bidding game of matching outside offers to keep stars of the academic world in UC classrooms, the overall quality of the university is degrading, said UC Berkeley Professor of political science and Berkeley Faculty Association co-chair Wendy Brown. "There’s no reason to stay at a crummy institution and teach your heart out," she said.

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by Jordan Bach-Lombardo, The Daily Californian.

Posted: February 3rd, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

When it comes to what would be "very effective" in helping people become economically secure, the public puts its faith in higher education and job training, along with preserving programs like Social Security and Medicare. These are the top three solutions among both those who are struggling and those who aren’t. "Making higher education more affordable" led the list overall (63 percent) and among those who say they’re struggling (65 percent). Preserving Social Security and Medicare was next at 58 percent (62 percent among the struggling) and expanding job-training programs came in third at 54 percent (56 percent for the struggling). Neither cutting taxes for the middle class (48 percent) nor reducing the federal deficit (40 percent) get majority support, and other options rate even lower.

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by Scott Bittle and Jon Rochkind, with Amber N. Ott, Public Agenda.

Posted: February 3rd, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

With a seemingly long history of student fee hikes and executive compensation scandals, the UC system is now being audited by California’s Bureau of State Audits. The bureau approved Sen. Leland Yee’s (D-San Francisco) audit request, along with its scope and objectives, in Feb. 2010. The results will be made public when the investigation ceases, which is projected to occur in April 2011, said Margarita Fernandez, public affairs chief for the Bureau of State Audits… One of the main reasons for the audit request was to challenge the luxury and privileges awarded to UC executives. The system lacks transparency and accountability, and the top executives continue to receive raises while student fees are increasing, Keigwin said. If student fees are increasing, then executives should not be receiving wage increases.

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by Martha Georgis, The California Aggie.

Posted: February 1st, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The proposed $500 million shortage will not directly affect the UCIMC as the hospital operates chiefly on clinical fees. In trying to understand UCIMC’s budget, there is no simple answer to how the UCIMC and its physicians and staff are funded. Without a clearer and complete view of UCIMC’s budget, suggestions such as diverting their funds to resolve the expected cuts are infant ideas that need to be developed. In the mean time, UC students are left in a dire circumstance without any say, and have no choice but to pay up.

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by Jessie Lee, New University.

Posted: February 1st, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Since 2004, for example, management has grown faster than non-management employees; we are reaching the point where there are more administrators than faculty. In part, this is due to the UC’s ever-expanding mission

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by John Bruning, New University.

Posted: February 1st, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

"I remember last year the line was ‘Go to Sacramento,’" said Student Regent Jesse Cheng. "I don’t think we hear that line anymore, and I think that’s a significant difference. I think there’s a general recognition that the money’s not there. Even if we went out and advocated, the revenue just doesn’t exist. What you’re hearing instead

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by Gregory Yee, New University.

Posted: February 1st, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.