Governor Newsom Proposes Massive Funding Increases For California Universities And Colleges

Higher education stands to be a big winner in the budget proposal unveiled Monday by California Governor Gavin Newsom. With California’s coffers flush with cash and increased reserves, the Governor’s recommended budget includes five years of annual 5% increases in base support for the University of California and California State University, and it promises about $1.6 billion in new money for California’s community colleges.

Newsom’s proposal comes with a catch: the institutions will need to make progress on a number of outcome priorities they’ve agreed to address over the coming years. Those goals are aimed in part at attaining 70% of working-aged Californias holding a college degree or certificate.

Included in the “high-priority” institutional goals are:

• closing gaps in achievement rates among underserved students,
• increasing graduation rates,
• lowering net costs of attendance and increasing the predictability of costs,
• increasing college enrollment by California residents,
• shortening time-to-degree completion,
• improving faculty diversity,
• better aligning curricula and student learning objectives with workforce needs, and
• and upping the transfer of community college students to the state’s four-year schools.

University of California

In terms of recurring funding, the University of California would receive a base increase of $200.5 million for fiscal year 2022-23.

• In addition, it would see an increase of $67.8 million to support California resident undergraduate student enrollment growth of 6,230 full-time equivalent students, and $31 million to offset revenue reductions associated with the replacement of 902 nonresident undergraduate students with an equivalent number of California resident undergraduate students.
• Other recurring increases would include $6 million for support of foster youth students, $2 million for research conducted by the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center, and more than $500,000 for graduate medical residency slots.

On top of those ongoing increases, the UC system would receive:

• $185 million in one-time funds to support climate initiatives: $100 million for climate action research seed and matching grants, $50 million for regional climate innovation incubators, and $35 million to establish climate workforce development and training hubs,
• An increase of $100 million for deferred maintenance and energy efficiency projects at UC campuses,
• An increase of $10 million to support the University of California San Francisco Dyslexia Center.

California State University

Under Newsom’s proposal, the 23 campuses of California State University are in line for $304.1 million in ongoing increases for fiscal year 2022-23. Included in that amount are:

• 211.1 million for a 5% increase in base support,
• An increase of $81 million to support California resident undergraduate student enrollment growth of 9,434 full-time equivalent students in the 2022-23 academic year,
• $12 million to increase support for foster youth students.

In addition, Newsom’s budget includes $233 million in one-time funds for the construction of the CSU Bakersfield Energy Innovation Center, support of equipment and facilities at the CSU University Farms, and for deferred maintenance and energy efficiency projects.

California Community Colleges

Newsom’s budget plan calls for California’s 116 community colleges to receive $840 million in new recurring funds for a number of purposes including core operations, faculty health insurance and technology upgrades.

The budget provides another $982 million for a number of one-time community college projects.

Newsom also proposed a $100 million increase for community college students under the Cal Grants program. And he would kick in $65 million in one-time funding for the state’s community colleges to facilitate the transfer of students to California State University and the University of California.

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While the details of the Newsom’s multi-year “compact” with the university systems (or “roadmap” in the case of the community colleges) still need to be worked out over the next few months of the legislative process, leaders of California’s three higher education systems all expressed confidence in their institutions’ readiness to tackle the goals. And they applauded the plan, particularly its planned budget growth of five percent annually through 2026-27.

University of California President Michael Drake said the proposed budget would bring “stability and reliable support to the University’s tripartite mission of teaching, research and public service. This sustained commitment will enable UC to make critical long-term investments, particularly in areas that directly support our students.”

“This compact aligns with our ambitious Graduation Initiative 2025 goals of increasing graduation rates while promoting equity by eliminating the differences in completion rates between our students from underrepresented communities and their peers,” said California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro.

Eloy Ortiz Oakley, Chancellor of California’s Community Colleges, said, “Recognizing that higher education is still the best path to social mobility, the governor’s proposed budget for 2022-23 provides the investment and support needed to help achieve our shared student success goals.”