We're still looking for numbers and definitions - Part 2

As blog readers will know, we have agitated for up-to-date budgets from Murphy Hall. It is still the case that if you go to UCLA's official webpage for budgets as of today:

https://www.finance.ucla.edu/corporate-accounting/ucla-annual-financial-reports

you won't find anything beyond fiscal year 2024-2025.

However, Murphy Hall did provide a Zoom session on October 29th for the Senate. Unfortunately, yours truly could not attend. Another faculty member did provide notes and screenshots. It would be very helpful if the Senate provided a recording of the event. (Many faculty cannot attend live Zoom sessions during business hours due to classes or other activities and obligations.)

Below is a screenshot of two tables:

Here are some abbreviations used on the tables:

DTS = Digital & Technology Solutions

GL = General Ledger (a financial record at UC that contains every transaction and account used by an organization, in this case UCLA)

TRIP = Total Return Investment Pool (short-term investments held at UC - in this case by UCLA - that provide liquidity)

BGP = Blue and Gold Pool/Blue and Gold Endowment Pool (longer-term investments funds held at UC - in this case by UCLA - that earn higher returns than TRIP, but whose value at any point in time fluctuates more, i.e., more risk taken for higher returns)

And below are two charts related to the "General Fund," a term typically applied to an account for day-to-day receipts and expenditures:

== 

Note: "TE14 allocations" appear to refer to transfers of fund into or out of accounts such as research grants. Source:

https://www.ucop.edu/ucop-budget/_files/AM101%20Training%20Nov.pdf (p. 29)

==

The first thing to note is that if you go back to 2024-25 in the link provided at the top, you will find that UCLA's overall expenditures (and revenues) were about $12.5 Billion. So even if we assume no growth to 2025-26, the total is around 10 times as large as what is shown on the charts. The revenues and expenditures on the tables above are around $2 billion, still a lot less than $12.5 billion. Thus, it appears that the business operations of UCLA Health (and possibly/probably other UCLA business units) are carved out of the tables and charts above.

You might also note that standard bookkeeping typically involves two kinds of basic information (flows, i.e., revenues coming in and spending going out) during a standard period (usually 12 months) and a statement of stocks (assets and liabilities) at a moment of time (usually the beginning and end of the 12-month period). Possibly, a statement of assets and liabilities was provided during the Zoom event, but - if so - yours truly doesn't have it.

Note first that the language used on the tables appears to mix up stocks and flows. The table on the right talks about "deficits" (a flow concept referring to spending flows exceeding revenue flows) when what is being referred to is a debt, a stock concept. The table on the left talks about an "operating balance" which seems to be the difference between revenue flowing in and spending flowing out. But balance is really a stock term. The difference between revenue and spending in everyday English is either a deficit (spending > revenue) or a surplus (revenue > surplus). 

Note second that when flow deficits occur (spending > revenue), the money to cover the difference has to come from somewhere. And that "somewhere" is either drawing down past reserves (assets) or running up debt (borrowing, liabilities). So an important element in understanding how significant a (flow) deficit to the financial condition of an organization is the organization's capacity to deal with that deficit. If, for example, the organization has very large reserves on hand and the deficit is small relative to those reserves, there is no emergency. If there is a reverse situation, there is an emergency.

When in the classic film Citizen Kane, newspaper owner Kane is told by his accountant Thatcher that he is losing money and should do something about it, the following dialog occurs:

"You're right, Mr. Thatcher, I did lose a million dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars this year. I expect to lose a million dollars next year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have to close this place in... sixty years." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzhb3U2cONs

Apparently, the powers-that-be at UCLA do not think of their financial situation as anything like Kane's. But absent some clear accounting of what reserves UCLA has, how much leeway the university has to deal with its deficits is hard to assess.

So what do we learn from the table on the left? Apart from the business side of UCLA health and perhaps other business units, last year (2025-2026) UCLA ran a deficit of $95 million. An oddity of the table when it comes for the projection for this year (2026-2027) is that after calculating a deficit of $203 million, two added lines tell us that the table left out another $100 million ($36 million + $66 million, lines 21 and 22) of projected DTS spending. So the total deficit is thus $303 million. 

That amount seems like a lot, but we don't have - or at least yours truly doesn't have - information on assets or reserves that can be drawn upon. The table on the right seems to be some kind of total of liabilities. It gives a total of about $1.3 billion of debt. I can't make head or tail of the TRIP/BGP number of $740 million on line 24. But note that more than half of UCLA's debt on that table is on that line! Is that line saying that UCLA overdrew its bank account with UC to the tune of $740 million? 

Then there is the matter of athletics. It seems - mainly from ongoing news accounts - that UCLA has forgiven significant past debts of athletics (accumulated annual deficits). But that just shuffles the liabilities that arose to somewhere else. Apparently, there was something at the Zoom event about a $250 million long-term bond to deal with past athletic debt.

Finally, former CFO Agostini - before he said Very Bad Words and was fired - created a budget book that broke down the macro totals into sub-units of the university. There apparently was no analog to that format at the Zoom event.

Non-Medicare Percent

 Non-Medicare Emeriti/Retirees: Percent Change in Premiums

Continuing our reformatting of UC health insurance premiums: Non-Medicare retirees - mainly people who retire before age 65 - have a more mixed set of premium changes than actives. The actives, which we presented yesterday, all have big percentage increases. But this group has a mixed picture with a range of changes from big percentage drops to big percentage increases. Generally, if you are a retiree of Medicare age but not eligible for Medicare, your premiums are going up a lot unless you are in the most expensive UC Care plan. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 513

From Inside Higher Ed: Education Secretary Linda McMahon had a firm message for America’s higher education institutions last week—be more like Arizona State University. “Our message to the sector is simple: Follow ASU’s example,” McMahon said. She praised ASU’s business partnerships, accessibility, innovation and its “high-quality degrees at a reasonable cost.”

“The Trump administration is reorienting higher education to ensure that there is no ‘lesser than’ degree or credential. Any pathway that offers an affordable route to a good career and a good life deserves to be celebrated,” she said. Thanks to ASU President Michael Crow, “ASU has emerged as a model for the new American university. You remind us that college belongs to students from every background, and that excellence is measured not by whom you shut out, but by how the students you welcome in go on to advance [their] careers,” she added.

But the secretary’s decree—given from a podium at the university’s College for Teaching and Learning Innovation—was about more than just touting ASU’s achievements. It was a platform to condemn colleges she said have morphed into “sprawling business enterprises that put their own corporate interests first” and to boast about how the Trump administration is fighting back with a focus on affordability, alternative pathways and value...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2026/10/26/mcmahon-touts-arizona-state-example-nation.

No More

From the Daily Bruin: UCLA Library dissolved its data consultation center and stopped offering data analysis services in August. The university consolidated the Data Science Center into UCLA Library’s research services unit as part of a broader effort to restructure the department, a UCLA Library spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The move came after UCLA consolidated other campus units – including information technology services – in response to budget shortfalls. UCLA Library said on its website that the consolidation efforts are part of the university’s 2023-28 strategic plan, which outlines five goals, including strengthening research and increasing institutional efficiency...

Tim Dennis, the former director of the Data Science Center, said it is unclear how the center’s work – particularly its data repositories and computing initiative – will continue under the research services department, which he said is focused more on helping with new research than on storing and archiving data...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/10/26/ucla-librarys-data-science-center-closed-amid-consolidation-effort.

Weekly Record

We continue with our weekly summary by Claude of the prior week's blog postings:

October 25, 2026

Another Problem to Solve - Part 2 – From the Daily Californian: UC Berkeley mathematician and Fields Medalist Richard Borcherds reacts to OpenAI's claimed solution to the Navier-Stokes problem, saying AI already outdoes beginning grad students at math and arrived about a decade sooner than he expected. The blogger ties it to his October 21 post on UCLA's Terence Tao.

Straws in the Wind - Part 505 – From the Brown Daily Herald: Brown doesn't use third-party AI-detection tools on admissions essays because of accuracy concerns, instead watching for "dramatic inconsistencies" and following the Common App's AI policy. No added comment.

More are eligible – From the Daily Bruin: half-time-or-more students at UC, CSU and community colleges now automatically meet some CalFresh eligibility requirements, with benefits up to $306 a month; students on larger meal plans stay ineligible, and UC CalFresh participation has more than quadrupled in 15 years. No added comment.

Weekly Record – The blog's weekly recap of the October 18–24 postings, prepared by Claude at the blogger's request; he notes the weekly summaries will continue.

October 26, 2026

Side by Side (Active Employees) – Using UCnet data, compares 2026 and 2027 UC health premiums for active employees across salary tiers, with increases ranging from 9.5% to 29.3% depending on plan and tier. The blogger contrasts this with 3–4% general inflation: "Enough said."

Side by Side (Non-Medicare Emeriti/Retirees) – UCnet comparison of 2026 vs. 2027 premiums for retirees not yet on Medicare. The blogger finds a more mixed picture than for actives, with some decreases or freezes, and notes most in this group likely retired before 65.

Side by Side (Emeriti/Retirees - All in Medicare) – UCnet comparison of 2026 vs. 2027 premiums for all-Medicare retiree households. The blogger notes the increases vary (some are zero) and that federal Medicare premiums may also be rising.

Side by Wide (Medicare-Eligible – One or More Family Members Not Medicare-Eligible) – UCnet premium tables for mixed Medicare/non-Medicare retiree families. The blogger observes larger increases when some family members aren't on Medicare, with no explanation offered and no data on how many people fall in each category.

Recommended – The blogger recommends visiting the state privacy site privacy.ca.gov, saying he's unsure how effective it will be but it's worth a try.

Straws in the Wind - Part 506 – From the Yale Daily News: Yale College is drawing on reserves for the first time in four years to cover $26 million in endowment-tax costs after the tax rose more than fivefold in July. No added comment.

Where the money is - Part 3 – From the Daily Bruin: the UCLA-affiliated Terasaki Institute and partners won up to $19.8 million from ARPA-H for "Prometheus," a project to bioengineer functional livers. No added comment.

October 27, 2026

Cash in the Bank – Drawing on a Legislative Analyst's Office report, explains that California's cash balance is about $90 billion, down from a 2024 peak over $100 billion, with much of it in special funds; the LAO advises treating cash borrowing as a last resort. The blogger stresses that much of the cash is earmarked.

Straws in the Wind - Part 507 – From the Daily Pennsylvanian: emeritus Penn professor Carolyn Marvin was arrested after repeatedly blocking an Uber Eats delivery robot, calling it a First Amendment protest. No added comment.

No Hastings - Part 3 – From the San Francisco Chronicle: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Hastings descendants' challenge to removing Serranus Hastings's name from UC's San Francisco law school. The blogger says this "appears to be the end of the line."

October 28, 2026

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 208 – From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard Law School raised a record $135 million in FY2026, boosted by a $31.4 million gift from Morgan Chu, up from about $73 million the prior year. No added comment.

Wayback – Citing an essay in The Atlantic, the blogger laments that some news publishers are blocking the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to thwart AI training, noting he relies on it to preserve Regents meetings and UCLA budget documents and that the public record is what suffers.

Straws in the Wind - Part 508 – From the Chronicle of Higher Education: the 2025 Survey of Earned Doctorates shows humanities PhDs down about 20% since 2015, social sciences down about 3%, and total doctorates up 8%. No added comment.

Slipping – Charts and a link to an EdSource story reporting that the math failure rate among UC freshmen has doubled. No added comment.

Trellix Departing - CrowdStrike Arriving – Reprints a UCLA memo announcing that Trellix endpoint security will be retired by May 2027 in favor of CrowdStrike, with a recap of earlier faculty and Senate privacy and governance objections. The blogger highlights the memo's assurance that CrowdStrike is not meant to monitor work and points to older posts on the dispute.

October 29, 2026

Expansion – From the Los Angeles Times: UCLA Health is expanding amid ER crowding, may need up to 400 more beds, and could acquire another hospital. The blogger argues the growth also strengthens UCLA's bargaining position with the region's few big insurers.

Straws in the Wind - Part 509 – From Inside Higher Ed: the DOJ found Ohio State's medical school discriminated in admissions, treating a socioeconomic scale developed at UC Davis's medical school as a proxy for race. No added comment.

Market Opportunity – Shows a Facebook ad pitching affluent parents with the claim that SAT scores no longer matter for UCLA and Berkeley admissions. The blogger mocks the come-on of a free intro followed by a fee.

Out – From Inside Higher Ed: Dartmouth Provost Santiago Schnell resigned after a faculty committee found he used AI to meaningfully alter his writing. No added comment.

October 30, 2026

The $90 Zero – Shows a mailing the blogger received from Navitus, the UC retiree pharmacy benefit manager, apparently involving a $90 vs. $0 cost figure. His only comment: "What a difference a zero can make!" NOTE: Claude seems to have missed the point - possibly because it couldn't read the image of the mailing. The mailing from Navitus showed a correction changing the co-pay from $10 to $100; the added zero imposed a $90 cost.

Straws in the Wind - Part 510 (Les Jeux Sont Fait) – From Inside Higher Ed: prediction market Kalshi plans to let users bet on admission rates at 22 selective schools, including UCLA and UC Berkeley, with admissions staff barred from trading. No added comment.

The Plan – Citing LA Metro, describes the proposed Sepulveda Transit Corridor rail line and lists scoping meetings, with public comments due November 18. The blogger wryly frames it as something that will happen "someday."

October 31, 2026

No Sharing – From the Daily Bruin: UCLA has a new review process restricting research-data sharing with "countries of concern" under DOJ and NIH rules. No added comment.

Straws in the Wind - Part 511 – From the Cornell Daily Sun: FIRE urged President Kotlikoff to lift Cornell's ban on Interfraternity Council social events, calling it guilt by association that violates freedom of association. No added comment.

Our Annual Halloween Offering – The blogger's yearly Halloween pick: a roughly half-hour, slowly building horror video, with a joking request that medically minded readers not point out the brain has no internal pain receptors.

AI Purchase Train Bypasses Academic Senate – Reposts an October 30 letter from Academic Council Chair Susannah Scott to President Milliken and COO Nava objecting to minimal Senate consultation on a proposed systemwide OpenAI purchase and asking that it not be finalized yet. No added comment beyond the letter and source link.

Total posts for the week: 30

Actives Percent

Percent Increase in Health Insurance Premiums

Active Employees: 2026-2027

 

Back on Oct. 26, we showed you side-by-side dollar comparisons for various groups of employees and retirees on what out-of-pocket health insurance premiums would be paid for various insurance plans, 2026 versus 2027. Above is another cut on the comparison, this time showing the percent change in the premiums. For active employees, they are big changes, notably higher than the general rate of price inflation which has been running in the 3-4%/annum range.

Straws in the Wind - Part 512

From the Daily Pennsylvanian: ...Mass antigovernment protests in France [have] escalated into some of the most destructive riots the country has witnessed in decades. As the unrest spread, a safety alert system issued a public warning to [U of] Penn students studying in France. The University currently operates three active semester-long study abroad programs in Paris: Columbia in Paris at Reid Hall, HEC Paris, and the Institute of Political Studies. International SOS — an alert system all University students studying abroad are subscribed to — notified students to “expect disruption nationwide over the coming days” during the “widespread unrest.” 

“Major incidents of looting, arson and clashes with the police occurred in urban centres, including the capital Paris,” the... message read. “The gatherings carry a heightened risk of unrest, with protesters likely to erect roadblocks, set objects alight, throw projectiles and engage in looting.” ...The safety alert warned that police officers may use “forceful measures” — such as tear gas and water cannons or baton charges — to “disperse unruly crowds.”

“Leave an area at the first sign of unrest,” the message instructed. “Expect heightened security around gatherings and comply with all official directives.”

Full story at https://www.thedp.com/article/2026/10/penn-paris-protests-study-abroad-students.