Unfortunately, for more than 30 years, state government slowly but surely has been walking away from its duty to adequately support UC. In 1968, the state general fund contributed 35 percent of UC’s total revenues. That number has fallen to 17 percent. The per-student support figures are equally disturbing. In real dollars (adjusted for inflation), the state general fund paid more to educate each UC student 39 years ago than it does today. In 2006-07, the general fund contributed $9,970 per student, compared to around $16,000 in 1968.

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by Bill Lockyer, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: October 21st, 2007, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

History is riddled with failed privatization schemes, including energy deregulation in the 1980s, where we saw costs and fees surge, with the burden usually falling on the backs of our states most vulnerable. In this case, you can be sure the burden will fall squarely on our students. As a trustee of UC and the California State University systems, I’m determined to change the course of this debate.

Read full article [here].
by John Garamendi, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: October 15th, 2007, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

It has been said that a government’s budget isn’t only a statement of priorities, but also a reflection of a society’s values. California’s proposed budget reveals skewed priorities and hollow values. For the first time, and unique among large states, California will soon spend more on its prisons than on its public universities… More prison spending will mean better pay for the highest paid, most politically influential prison personnel in the nation, as well as more prisons, but no one is certain it will result in a better corrections system. There’s no uncertainty, however, about the benefits that flow from investing in education. Nothing predicts future success better than a good education, and nothing guarantees failure more than the lack of one.

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by Maya Harris, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: May 29th, 2007, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

California’s proposed budget deal would restore millions of dollars to the University of California and allow it to offer admission to 5,800 eligible freshmen who had been told they would have to attend community college for two years. The budget deal, which still needs legislative approval, also delivered good news to the California State University and the state’s community colleges, with money to cover eligible students and some additional enrollment growth. The deal also restores $20 million to the UC Merced campus, allowing it to open with 1,000 students in September 2005.

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by Tanya Schevitz, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: July 28th, 2004, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Mashael Majid is heading to a community college this fall, her dream of becoming a University of California student on hold because of the state’s budget crunch. Majid was denied admission to three campuses of the University of California – the Golden State’s flagship college system, which for decades has been a beacon for the state’s top high school seniors – because they were forced to cut enrollment and raise student fees.

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by Ryan Pearson, The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Posted: May 26th, 2004, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Schwarzenegger’s plan for significant budget cutbacks and fee increases in UC and CSU’s budget for 2004-2005 remains essentially intact. Instead of the $372 million cut in state funding for UC he proposed in January, his revised May budget still calls for a searing $352 million reduction, which includes reductions in student financial aid and no cost-of-living increases for UC faculty and staff. The compact promises some relief later on, but it is far from clear whether the state’s finances will allow that. For now, the crisis in California’s public higher education system continues. What is at stake is just how accessible it will remain to all Californians — and whether it will retain its status as the best public university system in the nation, and perhaps the world.

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by the editors, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: May 19th, 2004, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

While the agreement with universities saves the state only about $660 million next year – out of an estimated budget shortfall of $17 billion – it may help Schwarzenegger pass the first budget on time since 2000. Some Democrats, whose party controls both houses of the Legislature, denounced the deal, saying it limits university enrollments and breaks a 40-year promise to students of a state-supported higher education to qualified students. They also criticized the governor’s budget agreements with interest groups before delivery of the proposal to the Legislature.

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by Tom Chorneau, The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Posted: May 11th, 2004, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The University of California, breaking a long-standing promise, will turn away qualified freshmen applicants for the first time this fall, UC officials said Thursday. With budgets cuts forcing the university to reduce enrollment 10 percent in the coming school year, UC cannot meet its mandate under the state Master Plan for Higher Education to find a place for all applicants from the top eighth, or 12.5 percent, of California’s graduating seniors, said Susan Wilbur, UC’s director of undergraduate admissions. “Since the Master Plan was adopted in 1960, the University of California has been able to accommodate all UC-eligible students,” Wilbur said in a news conference by telephone. “This will the first time that we have not been able to offer a place to every UC-eligible student.”

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by Charles Burress, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: February 27th, 2004, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

In the 1980’s, 9 percent of corporate profits were paid to states. This number had declined to less than 6 percent by 2001, the study showed. "Some large, sophisticated companies are using sheltering devices, aggressive restructurings and other steps to avoid paying taxes at the state level," R. Bruce Johnson, the Utah tax commissioner, said. "A third of these resources are dropping off the radar because aggressive companies are availing themselves of tax planning strategies that are not available to smaller companies or to individuals, and the result is unfair to the vast majority of taxpayers." Corporate tax shelters, the study concluded, are reducing the ability of states to provide for education and other basic needs and are "undermining the equity and integrity of state tax systems."

Read full article [here].
by David Cay Johnston, The New York Times.

Posted: July 16th, 2003, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The Berkeley Faculty Association recently joined forces with the American Association of University Professors in an effort to address critical issues facing Berkeley and universities nationwide. Top concerns of the coalition are reliance on corporate funding for research, and ownership of intellectual property. “Cash-strapped institutions view the intellectual property of their faculty as a potential source of revenue,” said Richard Scheffler, professor of health economics and public policy and chairman of the Berkeley faculty group. “Now more than ever, faculty need a powerful voice speaking for them.” With the rise of Internet use in teaching, the concept of intellectual property is being challenged, said Berkeley Social Welfare Professor Mary Ann Mason, who chairs the council of UC Faculty Associations.

Read full article [here].
by D. Lyn Hunter, The Berkeleyan.

Posted: May 10th, 2000, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.