President Yudof statement on UC funding plan
July 3, 2012 •
UC President Mark G. Yudof made the following statement on Thursday, June 28:
“The budget legislation signed by the Governor is a significant step toward bringing stability to public higher education funding in California. Based on the incentives in this budget package, I intend to recommend to the Board of Regents that our current tuition levels remain in place for the upcoming year. As always, it is up to the regents to decide the matter.
“We would have preferred that state funds for a tuition buyout begin with the coming budget year of 2012–13 rather than the following year. We will have to institute some extraordinary, one-time-only measures to balance our budget without a fee increase in the bridging year. Nonetheless, we are determined to find a way to get it done. All of this, of course, is contingent on the passage of the Governor’s temporary tax revenue measure this fall.
“Gov. Brown and the legislature deserve credit for protecting the UC base budget, given the extreme challenges they faced in this difficult fiscal year. UC students, faculty, staff, alumni and regents played a critical role in persuading the state’s political leadership that funding public higher education is the best investment the state can make in its future. They demonstrated once again what can be achieved when all of us work together, including our many California State University and California Community College colleagues who, along with CSU and CCC students, joined with UC to protect the funding for the Cal Grants program. Funding this key source of student financial support will help keep our doors wide open to all deserving applicants, regardless of their family income.
“The final 2012–13 state general fund budget of $2.37 billion represents a 4.2 percent increase over 2011–12. It is also worth noting that the budget includes $90 million to resume state contributions to the UC retirement plan for the first time in more than 20 years. Two years ago, the University put into place aggressive measures for the plan to reach fiscal sustainability, and this state contribution will help make that happen.”
