UC Tuition Up Another Rung

From today's Sacramento Bee: "…UC officials said Friday they will recommend that the Board of Regents consider raising undergraduate tuition by 9.6 percent when it meets in mid-July. That increase would come on top of a previously approved 8 percent tuition hike set to go into effect this fall. If approved, tuition for in-state undergraduates would rise by more than $1,000 to about $12,200, not including room, board or campus fees…"

Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/01/3742982/uc-eyes-another-tuition-increase.html

Alternative Reading Mode

As noted in a previous entry, we now have an alternative way of reading past postings on this blog. The file for April 1 – June 30, 2011 can be found below. It has some odd formatting and omits the videos. However, you can go back in time on this blog directly in the standard way.

Open publication - Free publishing - More blog

Republicans Offer Public Pension Proposition But Can't Surmount 2/3 Hurdle

Once California legislative Republicans were cut out of the budget process, they lost their ability to negotiate a pension proposition to be put on the ballot. Of course, such propositions can be placed on the ballot via initiative. But since there is no special election being called to deal with tax extensions, any such initiative would likely have to await until 2012.

Republicans have asked the legislature to put a pension proposition on the ballot. But they would need to overcome a 2/3 vote hurdle which won't happen with a Democratic majority.

Nonetheless, the proposal indicates what Republicans might have bargained for had they made a deal on the budget with the governor.

Among the provisions would be substantial increases in employee contributions to pensions (including UC) and a hybrid pension plan (part defined contribution)

Details at http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2011/07/california-senate-republicans-pension-initiative.html

LAO State Budget Estimates

The Legislative Analyst has produced a preliminary state budget analysis. The full publication is at http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/Econ/2011/Summary_Tables.pdf but the table above is a summary. If you look at "revenue & transfers" (keeping in mind that "transfers" can hide mischief) vs. expenditures, you can see that the budget year that ended June 30 was estimated to be in surplus ($94.781 billion - $91.480 billion = a surplus of +$3.301 billion). The new budget year - assuming sufficient revenue - runs another surplus ($$88.456 billion - $85.937 billion = a surplus of +$2.519 billion). Running these estimated and assumed surpluses restores the general fund to a positive balance by the end of the new fiscal year.

The object is therefore not a gradual workout budget over a period of years but a quick erasing of past budgetary sins. Once that choice was made, the squeeze on the UC budget was a certainty since the legislature and the governor know that UC can always raise tuition as an alternative funding source. Other programs, e.g., prisons, don't have such external revenue possibilities.

There will be a Regents meeting in July. The underlying issue at that meeting, if the Regents choose to confront it, is a long run funding model for the university, given the evident budget problems of the state and the slack economy.

Got any spare change for the UC-Riverside med school?

The saga of the UC-Riverside proposed med school continues post-state budget. Now the request goes to local authorities:

UCR Med School requests $12 million grant

Nicole C. Brambila, Jun. 30, 2011|

Desert Healthcare District board members are mulling over a multi-year $12 million grant request for the new UCR Medical School to help the fledging institution get the social capital it needs for accreditation. The med school was dealt a setback this week when its state funding became a casualty of the revenue shortfall and a $15 million budget request evaporated…

Full story at http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110630/NEWS01/110630014/UCR-Med-School-requests-12-million-grant

CSU Tuition Prepares for Blast Off

From Capitol Alert blog of the Sacramento Bee today:

…Chancellor Charles Reed announced this afternoon that he will ask trustees to vote on a 12 percent tuition increase when they meet on July 12.

"What was once unprecedented has unfortunately become normal, as for the second time in three years the CSU will be cut by well over $500 million," Reed said in a statement. "The magnitude of this cut, compounded with the uncertainty of the final amount of the reduction, will have negative impacts on the CSU long after this upcoming fiscal year has come and gone."

Full article: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/csu-california-state-university-tuition-increase.html

And talking about taking off:

The number of out-of-state students is soaring at UC Berkeley, with new figures showing more than a quarter of newcomers on campus - freshmen and transfer students - won't be from California this year. That's up from 23 percent last year, and 15 percent two years ago...

Full article at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/30/MNCN1K4RTP.DTL

Gone: The End of CPEC

From the LA Times today:

…Brown completely eliminated the California Postsecondary Education Commission, saving $1.9 million. For nearly four decades, the panel has coordinated planning between California's three branches of higher education — the California State University and University of California systems and the community colleges. In his veto message, Brown called the commission ineffective…

Full article at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20110701,0,1204898.story

It was swell while it lasted: