Did we miss the $25 million brass ring?

We have previously blogged about how UC's prez and the governor negotiated a multiyear pension contribution but the legislature gave only one year with an explicit proviso that it was not obligated for more. Part of the Committee of Two deal - in addition -was that the governor wouldn't veto extra money UC might negotiate with the legislature for added enrollment. However, the legislature was willing to offer substantially less than UC wanted and with a condition that might not be met, specifically an added enrollment of 5,000 in-state students.

The offer was for an extra $25 million. Now the San Francisco Chronicle reports UC won't get that either, at least for this year. Next year? Who knows?

Lawmakers’ attempt to entice the University of California to enroll 5,000 more Californians by promising an extra $25 million has failed this year — in-state admissions actually declined — but the state’s offer will stand for one more year. Concerned that the coveted public institution is closing the door to so many Californians this year while admitting record numbers of students from out of state, lawmakers invited UC admissions officials to address a joint hearing of the Assembly’s Education Finance and Higher Education committees Wednesday...

Stephen Handel, UC’s associate vice president of undergraduate admissions, told the committee how UC bases admissions decisions on 14 criteria that include high school test scores (the top 9 percent of students are automatically admitted to at least one campus), special talents and achievements. He said UC complies with all state requirements on behalf of California students hoping for a spot in the world-class university...

To encourage UC to open the door to more Californians, lawmakers included a provision in the budget that would give UC the extra $25 million if it added 5,000 more California residents either this year or in 2016-17...

“The (UC) president takes this very seriously,” Handel said. “We’ll get back to you very soon.” 

Full story at http://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/UC-snubs-state-s-25-million-incentive-to-6467961.php?t=83f1af70bc57317ca0&cmpid=twitter-premium%20via%20@sfchronicle 

Note: Whether the offer will really be on the table next year is open to question. Next year, there will be a new budget allocation for UC and whether some portion of the money is "extra" or not may be hard to determine.