The University of California system may be undergoing a major budget change, which may include a rise in nonresident enrollment and a tuition increase of up to 20 percent, according to a presentation given at the UC Regents' meeting Wednesday.

The budget plan, which will be further discussed and voted on in November, discusses the necessity of filling a $1.5 billion gap in core funding that the UCs will face in the coming five years. This loss will, and has, led to fewer faculty and higher workloads in the past years. 

The UC system also faces the "unlikelihood of State funding increases" in coming years, which would increase the potential for both tuition increases and budget cuts. Current tuition and fee increases have only helped the budget gap by about 39 percent in the past years, and state funds only cover approximately 11 percent of UC's total budget. 

The presentation also addressed concerns that financial problems were affecting the quality and status of UCs. Some options for students, like incentivizing early completion and offering more credit for outside-classroom learning, were discussed but ultimately would not offer much financial change. 

"UC's status as a world-class research public university is in jeopardy because of the State's steady disinvestment in higher education," read the presentation released.

UC Regent Sherry Lansing assured the board that all of the information discussed at the meeting was "brainstorming" only and that they were presenting all options on the table.

Other but less academically-related financial considerations were also addressed, including changing current health insurance plans, improving revenue from parking structures, and addressing inefficiencies at a school-level. The meeting was the second of three meetings, the first of which discussed building plans and other UC considerations. 

 

More information can be found here. 

Reach Staff Reporter Nandini Ruparel here.