By Doug Alexander
The 1995-96 California state budget includes increases for the University of California, the California State University and the California Community Colleges--the best news for the three public higher education segments since the state's fiscal crisis began in the early 1990s.
In addition, for the first time in five years, students in the three systems will get relief from yearly fee hikes, which have sharply driven up the costs of public higher education and have contributed to an enrollment decline of more than 225,000 in the last five years.
UC will receive $1.9 billion from the state--an increase of 4.9 per cent from the preceding year, according to figures released by the State Department of Finance in August. This is the largest increase since the mid-1980s and includes a boost of 3.6 percent in the basic appropriation, and 1.3 percent in other state funds.
Cal State will receive slightly more than $1.6 billion from the state next year, a 1.7 percent increase. The system's basic state appropriation was increased 3.4 percent by the governor and the Legislature, but the amount was reduced by $41 million in unspent money from last year.
The state's 106 community colleges, which are financed through a combination of state money and local property taxes, will receive an increase of about 4.8 percent. General Fund support will increase by nine percent--to about $1.43 billion--but the budget anticipates a slight drop in property tax revenue.
Joe Newmyer, vice chancellor for administrative and fiscal policy for the statewide community college system, said the property tax shortfall is likely to be about $60 million next year, a much larger figure than the Wilson Administration is forecasting.
As a result, Newmyer said, the chancellor's office will not distribute about $40 million in enrollment growth funds that were included in the final 1995-96 budget, because the money will be needed later in the year to make up for the missing property tax revenue.
Nevertheless, Patrick McCallum, executive director of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, called this "The best budget in four years. It provides a COLA (cost of living adjustment)...plus funding for instructional equipment."
Steve Arditti, director of state government relations for the University of California, called UC's $90 million General Fund increase "an encouraging sign that the governor and the Legislature are putting a reasonable priority on higher education."
For the second year in a row, Cal State received more money from the state, even though it was educating fewer students, Department of Finance reports show.
Between the 1992-93 and 1993-94 academic years, enrollment on the 20 Cal State campuses dropped by more than 18,400 students, according to the reports, yet the system received a $146.6 million General Fund increase for 1994-95. Last year, enrollment declined by another 1,270 students but the system's 1995-96 budget once again was increased, this time by almost $25 million.
For the past two years the Legislature has added budget language that specifies enrollment targets for Cal State--250,000 for 1994-95, 252,000 for next year. But the system suffers no penalties if these goals are not met.
The budget provides a one-year moratorium on tuition and fee increases, ending at least temporarily an upward spiral that saw UC fees rise by more than 200 percent in the past decade, while Cal State charges increased by 180 percent.
Community college fees will remain at $13 per credit unit for most students, while the $50-per-unit fee for bachelor's degree holders will expire on January 1, 1996.
The governor's budget called for ten percent fee increases in all three public systems, but the Legislature, led by senate Democrats, rejected the increases and provided an additional $71 million to make up for 75 percent of the lost fee revenue.
Graduate and professional student fees at UC, which were approved by the constitutionally autonomous UC Board of Regents last March, still will be implemented this fall. However, similar fee hikes for Cal State graduate students were rejected by the Legislature.