May 22--The UC regents on Thursday embraced Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal, which would significantly boost funding for the 10-campus system, freeze tuition for in-state undergraduates for two years and require the university system to reform its pension plan and increase the number of transfer students it enrolls.
The board voted unanimously for the plan that Brown and UC President Janet Napolitano announced last week, after months of disagreement and bargaining. UC previously sought to raise the current annual undergraduate tuition of $12,200 -- not including room and board -- by as much as 5% in each of the next five years, but Brown firmly opposed the hike.
Regent Sherry Lansing noted that just a few months ago, the mood at the university had been "unbelievably gloomy" during the disagreement with the governor and the student protests over impending tuition increases. With a proposed additional $486 million in state funding over the next three years, Lansing said, it seemed like a new era. Napolitano and Brown deserved "bravo and congratulations," she said.
But not everything appeared sunny at the meeting at UC San Francisco.
Because Brown's budget plan does not include money to expand enrollment of in-state undergraduates, UC officials said they were lobbying the Legislature for extra funds, starting with $50 million next year. Their hope is to add 6,800 such students over the next four years.
The lack of enrollment funds is "a gaping hole" in the agreement, regent Monica Lozano said.
The budget is scheduled to be finalized next month, and Brown has promised not to veto any extra money thst lawmakers may give UC.
In addition, student leaders said they were upset that out-of-state undergraduates will face 5% tuition increases, to about $36,900 next year, and further hikes in later years. Graduate students from California and elsewhere in about 50 professional programs, such as medicine and business administration, also will see increases that vary by campus and discipline -- with four nursing programs going up by$1,671, the largest amount.
