The $1.4-billion in budget cuts proposed this week for California’s public colleges could prompt a new year of protests that decry higher tuition, stagnant employee salaries, and the growing inability of Californians to afford college. But as a barrier to student access, rising tuition may ultimately pale in comparison with a more fundamental shift: The state’s colleges have started to shrink. California’s public-college enrollment declined by 165,000 during the past academic year, even as the number of people trying to get into college grew… The cuts that Gov. Jerry Brown, a newly elected Democrat, has proposed would ensure that the nation’s largest set of public colleges — comprising three systems — would continue downsizing well into 2012.

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by Josh Keller, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Posted: January 13th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

UC Berkeley will lay off nearly 150 employees this year, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said Thursday. Some of the workers have already been notified, university spokeswoman Claire Holmes said, and most will be let go by June. About the same number of jobs will be eliminated through other means, such as retirements and voluntary departures… Birgeneau’s announcement comes less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed cutting $500 million from the 10-campus University of California system. The layoffs had been planned before Brown’s proposal was released, Holmes said, and it is not clear whether budget cuts could lead to more job losses.

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by Matt Krupnick, The Contra Costa Times.

Posted: January 13th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Despite Brown’s enthusiasm on the campaign trail for renewed financing for California

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by Jake Greenberg, The Daily Bruin.

Posted: January 13th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

California

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by Oliver Staley, Bloomberg Businessweek.

Posted: January 13th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposals to slash state spending on higher education has triggered anxiety across California’s already budget-battered public colleges and universities about possible new waves of staff and faculty layoffs, reductions in class offerings and higher tuition bills… Among the most concrete predictions came from California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott, who said the cutbacks will mean, in effect, that about 350,000 students will not be able to enroll in any classes at those 112 schools… it was probably too late in the UC admissions process for enrollment for this fall to be substantially reduced. However, the number of slots for midyear transfer students could be cut, and the freshmen numbers for 2012 might be affected too. Rather than revive last year’s required furlough days for most faculty and staff, the most likely scenario to cope with the $500-million proposed reduction in state funding for UC’s 10 campuses would be layoffs… Cal State had been ramping up enrollment by 30,000 students for this spring after two years of cuts. The governor’s budget proposal means the system once again is likely to have to restrict enrollment for fall 2011,

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by Larry Gordon, Carla Rivera and Tony Barboza, The Los Angeles Times.

Posted: January 12th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Higher education is now in line to take a big hit

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by Laurel Rosenhall, The Sacramento Bee.

Posted: January 12th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

In a joint statement Monday, the heads of the three impacted systems — Yudof, Reed and Scott — suggested cuts to the institutions were counterproductive to economic recovery. "It is clear the governor wants to engage Californians in a full and open discussion about what size of government they are willing to support. As leaders of the state’s three public higher education systems, we are eager to participate in that conversation," the statement reads. "Given the vast demographic shifts underway in California, now is not the time to shrink public higher education, but to grow it. The road to recovery from this recession and prosperity far beyond it runs straight through our many campuses. These universities are the economic engines of California."

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by Jack Stripling , Inside Higher Education.

Posted: January 11th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Meister previously served on the UC budget committee and has observed the institution’s evolving financial policies for years. He doesn’t seem surprised that tuition is going up, regardless of what condition the economy is in or what amount of public funding is available because, as he puts it, "the universities will cost as much as they can." UC had long sought to boost revenue by raising tuition, he noted, yet its leaders feared a rollback in state funding in response. But that changed under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who agreed to increase state support only on condition of that UC in turn require students to contribute more… The question now is what will happen under Gov. Jerry Brown, who is likely to take a different stance toward rising tuition than Schwarzenegger but nonetheless is expected to unveil harsh cuts to education as a way to address a $26 billion budget deficit. In a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, UC Regent Richard Blum indicated that it probably would not be feasible to raise tuition again, so the message was that students should brace for more cuts to education.

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by Rebecca Bowe, The San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Posted: January 11th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Continuing two decades of declining state support for increasingly large and expensive campuses, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed cutting $1 billion from the state’s universities and $400 million from community colleges — a reduction educators say could limit access and increase fees… The cuts come as the number of young Californians is growing and as the economy increasingly demands advanced education, educators say. Additionally, inflation has driven up the cost of items such as library materials and instructional equipment.

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by Lisa M. Krieger, The San Jose Mercury News.

Posted: January 10th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Meanwhile, at least 43 states are cutting back on funding for public colleges and universities, and increasing tuitions and fees. This means many qualified young people won’t be able to attend. For example, the University of California has increased tuition by 32 percent and reduced freshman enrollment by 2,300 students; the California State University system cut enrollment by 40,000 students… Why have we allowed this to happen? Our young people – their capacities to think, understand, investigate and innovate – are America’s future. In the name of fiscal prudence we’re endangering that future. Maybe the answer is that America’s biggest corporations don’t especially care. They’re getting the talent they need all over the world… when big corporations and the wealthy demand tax cuts, and don’t particularly care about public education, the inevitable result is that most of America’s kids are vulnerable.

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by Robert Reich, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: January 9th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.