CSUN University News Clippings

As California tightens purse strings, UC turns to Uncle Sam

(October 6, 2009)

By Laurel Rosenhall

With the state tightening the spigot on public funding for colleges, the University of California is putting a hand out to Uncle Sam.

The federal government already has sent the UC system $700 million in stimulus funds to help ease the pain of historic state budget cuts. And the stimulus package has directed millions of dollars more to UC for scientific research.

But UC leaders are making the case that the federal government should play an even larger role in funding California’s premier university system � not just during an economic emergency but on an ongoing basis. The details of the proposals vary, but all call for a major shift in the way the country pays for higher education, with more coming from the federal government because less is coming from the states.

“There never has been an integrated national strategy in this country for higher education. There needs to be one now,” UC President Mark Yudof wrote in a draft policy paper. “The mission is simply too important to leave to state governments that seem disinclined or unable to pursue it.”

Yudof said he has been to Washington to pitch his idea to members of Congress and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. But he is quick to add that he doesn’t want money from federal coffers to replace what UC gets from California taxpayers � he wants both.

“I still think the primary responsibility lies with the state of California,” Yudof said. “I have not given up on the state.”

And the proposal doesn’t lessen UC’s immediate need to raise student fees by 32 percent over the next year, Yudof said, because even if his ideas come to pass, change won’t happen anytime soon.

California has cut funding to UC by 20 percent over the past year and a half. In response, the university is furloughing professors, raising fees and cutting classes. Thousands of UC students and employees protested the changes during a statewide walkout last month.

Yudof said his call for the federal government to get more involved is “partly a reaction to the short-term political climate” in California. But he said it also comes from looking at other countries � such as South Korea, Singapore and Saudi Arabia � that are turning to UC for guidance as they develop their public university systems.

“Around the world � they understand that to keep their nations competitive, they have to be knowledge factories,” Yudof said. “The states and the federal government should be partners in doing this.”

Chancellors of the UC campuses have begun echoing the call. In a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau suggested that President Barack Obama create a national network of the country’s top public research universities.

“Washington would provide sufficient additional funding for operations and student support to ensure broad access and continued excellence at these universities,” Birgeneau wrote. “A portion of these resources would ensure that out-of-state and in-state students pay the same tuition and have access to the same financial aid packages.”

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi raised a similar point in a recent meeting with The Bee. She said the so-called “land-grant” universities � those founded on land the federal government gave to the states � are essentially national institutions.

“The impact of these institutions grew beyond the border of the states,” Katehi said. “So now it’s the time maybe for the federal government to step in and say, ‘This is a national treasure.’ ”

The ideas have caught attention in the blogosphere. Steve Foerster, who writes a blog about higher education for elearners.com, blasted UC recently for asking for what he described as a federal bailout.

“The rest of us are making do with less,” wrote Foerster, who lives in Alexandria, Va. “Surely if we can do that, you folks can put all those researchers to work to figure out some way to use your three billion dollars to keep the lights on.”

For now, federal education officials are noncommittal on the UC proposals, saying they plan to stick to Obama’s agenda for higher education.

“The president’s higher education agenda is focused on increasing access, quality and affordability for all Americans,” said Justin Hamilton, deputy press secretary in the U.S. Department of Education. “We’re developing policies that will help us meet that goal.”

Publication: Sacramento Bee