More on the UC Budget: Catch 2030

Our previous post yesterday on the state budget proposal put forward by the governor touched on the UC portion. In addition to the proposed funding for 2022-23, the governor proposes a multiyear funding "compact," apparently with the approval of UC president Drake, dealing with various goals about enrollment, equity, etc.

Old timers will recall that UC had a "compact" with Governor Schwarzenegger which dissolved as soon as a budget problem arose. In fact, the legislature today cannot obligate future legislatures to live up to "compacts." Caution is advised, not only because of the multiyear element, but also because the details of the goals and obligations won't be available until the May Revise.

Below is the account from the LA Times of the higher ed "compact," followed by the actual language in the budget proposal:

Newsom proposes big funding for UC, Cal State. But there’s a condition: Close equity gaps

Teressa Watanabe, Colleen Shalby, 1-10-22 

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal released Monday makes a significant pledge to the University of California and California State University: five years of annual funding increases that would deliver long-sought financial stability. But there’s also a big caveat. The public university systems have to close achievement gaps among underserved students, a stubbornly elusive goal for years, and meet a long list of other specific targets to boost graduation rates, reduce the cost of attendance and increase California undergraduate enrollment.

The budget plan also proposes funding to increase California student enrollment this fall by 9,434 students at Cal State and 7,132 at UC — including 902 seats at UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego currently allocated to international and out-of-state students. The state would provide $31 million to those three popular campuses to cover the cost of replacing nonresident students, who each pay about $30,000 in supplemental tuition, with Californians.

The multiyear agreements Newsom unveiled with UC and Cal State would provide a 5% base general fund increase for five straight years in exchange for commitments to expand access, equity, affordability and training for state workforce needs. The list of targets is longer and more prescriptive than those in previous agreements between governors and state universities. Former Gov. Jerry Brown, for instance, focused more generally on increasing transfer students, reducing costs and shortening the time to obtain a degree.

Additionally, roughly $1.6 billion is proposed for California’s 116 community colleges — the nation’s largest higher education system — linking funding to increasing the number of students transferring into UC and CSU, and a 20% hike in associate degrees, certificates or credentials by 2026.

“We have been working with our education partners, CSU, UC and Community Colleges, to see if we can come up with a new multiyear framework, and we have,” Newsom said Monday. UC President Michael V. Drake, Cal State Chancellor Joseph Castro and California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley all supported Newsom’s proposal.

Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, said the proposal is “incredible and necessary” to improve student outcomes. The Institute for College Access & Success, which advocates for equity in higher education, also supported the proposal, saying it is “rightly focused on closing equity gaps by race and income.”

Newsom’s higher education proposal also features ambitious timelines for the elimination of differences in graduation rates of students who are low-income, underrepresented students who are Black, Latino and Native American and those who are the first in their families to attend college compared with their more advantaged peers.

But meeting those targets — 2025 for Cal State and 2030 for UC — could prove a heavy lift.

Source: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-10/newsom-gives-california-colleges-and-universities-big-funding-pledge-with-a-catch.

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The actual language in the budget proposal (pp 46-47):

MULTI-YEAR FRAMEWORK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

The Administration worked with the UC, CSU, and the CCC Chancellor's Office to develop multi-year compacts and a roadmap that will provide sustained state investments in exchange for clear commitments from each segment to expand student access, equity, and affordability and to create pathways for students to study and enter careers in health, education, climate action, and technology. Each compact/roadmap is a discrete agreement with the state; however, they are forged with the understanding that each segment must work toward aligned goals and achieve an increased level of intersegmental collaboration. These agreements will provide California students with more opportunities to transfer to four-year institutions and graduate within expected timeframes, in preparation for the jobs that will drive California’s economy now and into the future.

The UC and CSU compacts build upon the segments' respective UC 2030 and Graduation Initiative 2025 goals. Over a five-year period, the compacts emphasize student-centered priorities including closing equity gaps, improving time-to-degree completion, reducing students’ total cost of attendance, increasing predictability, increasing California resident undergraduate enrollment of both freshmen and transfer students, and better aligning curricula and student learning objectives with workforce needs.

Similarly, the roadmap for the CCC system builds upon the system’s existing Vision for Success and focuses on student success by enhancing intersegmental collaboration to facilitate effective and timely transfer of CCC students to public and independent postsecondary institutions, improving time-to-degree and certificate completion, closing equity gaps, and better aligning the system with K-12 and workforce needs.

To further align each segment's goals and the compacts/roadmap, the Administration is also establishing—at the recommendation of the Governor's Council for Post-Secondary Education—an overarching goal of achieving 70 percent postsecondary degree and certificate attainment among working-aged Californians by 2030.

The Budget includes funding equivalent to a five-percent increase in base General Fund resources annually over five years for UC and CSU, contingent on the ability of each segment to advance these shared goals, which are outlined in greater detail in the following sections. In the coming months, the Administration will continue to work with the segments to refine specific metrics for these goals and commitments, which will be shared as part of the May Revision. 

Source: https://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2022-23/pdf/BudgetSummary/HigherEducation.pdf.