UC President Mark G. Yudof Statement on Special Election's Impact on UC's Budget

The outcome of the May 19 state ballot propositions means that the University of California will be facing significant budget reductions in the 2009-10 fiscal year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s revised state budget proposal alone calls for a cut of $322 million, and when combined with the state’s underfunding of student enrollments and inflationary cost increases, UC’s total budget gap would amount to $531 million.

Such a severe budget reduction, following years of chronic underfunding, would force the university to weigh a number of stark choices. Salary reductions, employee furloughs, decreases in enrollment, increases in class sizes, cuts to programs and student services, and, unfortunately, even higher fees—at this point, all options must be placed on the table for consideration at some point in the future.

The budget cuts as proposed would, in effect, act as an anti-stimulus package for the California economy. As the federal stimulus package recognizes, investment in human capital is the best way to dig out of an economic trough. In tough times, great research universities are not luxury items; they are engines for recovery. The innovations developed at institutions like UC lead to new products, new industries and new jobs.

There also is concern that, as the state now must scramble to make ends meet, funds from the federal stimulus package will not be invested in ways meant to stimulate the economy at all, but instead will become space-holders, used to backfill holes in the state budget, thus further delaying recovery.

We are troubled by cuts that would target our academic preparation programs. These programs help educationally disadvantaged students across the state prepare for college. We will continue to work with the governor and the Legislature with the intent of again finding ways to restore funding for these valuable programs.

Finally, we would ask the governor and Legislature to weigh carefully the impact of reductions to the university’s budget on its eligibility to receive federal stimulus and other funds that support important research and medical programs, which benefit all Californians.

We have worked hard in the past to protect access and affordability for students, and we will continue to do so going forward. But we fear these proposed cuts will leach into the core of our primary mission to maintain the academic excellence and learning environment that have made California and the UC world leaders in higher education.

UC President Mark G. Yudof statement on special election’s impact on UC
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