{"id":145543,"date":"2026-01-23T01:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T01:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145543\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T01:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T01:24:10","slug":"why-california-universities-are-still-on-edge-after-newsom-proposed-large-budget-increases-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145543\/","title":{"rendered":"Why California universities are still \u2018on edge\u2019 after Newsom proposed large budget increases"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Burke<\/a>,\u00a0EdSource<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by\u00a0EdSource<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

California\u2019s university systems are entering a pivotal stretch of budget negotiations, hoping to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in new state funding that they say is needed to support enrollment growth and make up for years of less-than-promised support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his budget proposal unveiled this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom included $350.6 million in new funding for the University of California and $365.7 million for California State University. That would amount to about a 7% increase in state funding for both systems.<\/p>\n

The proposal, which would be the largest increase in years for higher education, was celebrated as a win by both university systems, especially as they contend with federal funding cuts. But in interviews, top officials said they remain anxious over whether it will come to fruition. The proposal hinges on agreements with state lawmakers and could also change if Newsom\u2019s revenue projections, which face skepticism, prove too optimistic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UC and CSU say that receiving the money Newsom has proposed is crucial after the systems were underfunded in recent years, at least relative to their expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2022, Newsom entered into a multiyear agreement with both systems \u2014 a so-called higher education compact \u2014 and pledged annual funding increases of 5% for five years. In exchange, the universities agreed to work toward a number of goals, including increasing enrollment of\u00a0California residents.<\/p>\n

UC and CSU received 5% increases in the first two years of the agreement, but since then that level of funding has not been awarded. In 2024-25, UC received a net increase of about 2% and CSU received about a 3% increase. Last year, they received no increase.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the compact, UC\u00a0says it has so far received only 57%<\/a>\u00a0of the new funding it expected to get in that time.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the university systems maintain that they have fulfilled their end of the compact. This fall, for the first time, UC enrolled more than 200,000 California resident undergraduates, an increase of more than 10,000 students since 2022. CSU projects it will enroll 392,500 California undergraduates this academic year, above its target.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The systems see this budget cycle as their best and final opportunity to take advantage of the compact, with Newsom slated to leave office after this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we have accomplished this major part of the compact, which is to enroll more California residents. So we\u2019ve met and exceeded that goal,\u201d said Kathleen Fullerton, UC\u2019s director of state governmental relations. \u201cNow, we find ourselves in this position where we really do need this funding to support these students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fullerton added that UC officials are unsure how Newsom\u2019s proposal will go over with the Legislature, noting that the Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office, which provides advice to the Legislature, has projected an\u00a0$18 billion deficit<\/a>. That\u2019s a much gloomier outlook than Newsom\u2019s projection, which assumes strong revenues largely generated by artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody\u2019s kind of on edge trying to predict where the final budget will land,\u201d Fullerton said.<\/p>\n

If the budget outlook worsens between now and the summer, UC may have to consider decreasing enrollment or cutting back student support services, Fullerton said, though she added she\u2019s hopeful UC \u201cwon\u2019t get to that place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick Lenz, CSU\u2019s interim executive vice chancellor and chief financial officer, did not explicitly say whether CSU would make similar decisions, but said there \u201ccould be trade-offs\u201d if Newsom\u2019s proposal isn\u2019t realized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the challenge that we often have with these compacts,\u201d Lenz said. \u201cWhen you feel a comfort level that you\u2019re going to get the funding, you can plan. But when it gets interrupted, that makes us second-guess what we have an ability to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to the worries is uncertainty about next year, when there will be a new governor and when Newsom\u2019s office projects the deficit to grow to $22 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That projected deficit could make it less likely the Legislature will commit to the funding increases Newsom has proposed for UC and CSU, since the increases could be difficult to sustain in 2027-28. Increases in base funding are typically awarded as ongoing dollars, meaning they carry over to following years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, budget makers would avoid making large base increases when they\u2019re facing a notable deficit in budget year plus one,\u201d said Jennifer Pacella, the LAO\u2019s deputy legislative analyst for higher education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the same time, some funding for both CSU and UC has been deferred to next year, including part of the money due to them last year under the compact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will be up to the next governor to honor those commitments. A spokesperson for the state Department of Finance said it\u2019s the department\u2019s \u201cintent\u201d to give that money, but added that she \u201ccan\u2019t speak for a future administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials from both UC and CSU acknowledged they are unsure whether the next governor will consider higher education a priority, placing extra emphasis on this year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a great message,\u201d said Lenz, the interim vice chancellor at CSU. \u201cI think we need to be very vocal and hopefully come out with no less than what the governor proposed in the January budget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Michael Burke,\u00a0EdSource This story was originally published by\u00a0EdSource.\u00a0 California\u2019s university systems are entering a pivotal stretch of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,701,702,72642],"class_list":{"0":"post-145543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-capital-public-radio","12":"tag-cpr","13":"tag-why-california-universities-are-still-on-edge-after-newsom-proposed-large-budget-increases"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}