The University of California Financial Crisis

The same economic problems that are steering more students towards less expensive public universities are also creating major financial woes for those universities. California's state budget is probably the most dire of all states, and the University of California is anticipating an $813 million reduction in state support.

Mark Yudof, president of the University of California, outlined how the system would cope with the loss of funds. The cost saving plans include:

• An increase in student fees
• Furloughs for university employees
• Refinancing of debt
• Cuts from the 10 campuses

For the latter category, many of the cuts will involve scaled back hiring. UC Berkeley, for example, is likely to hire 10 new faculty members instead of the usual 100. For more details, check out the official UC press release.

What does all this mean for current and future UC students? We can't know for certain yet, but when faculty and staff are cut students can usually expect larger classes, fewer class options, and reduced campus services. The increased fees are also bad news since the University of California is already one of the most expensive public university systems in the country.

Related Reading

• Schools in the UC System
• A Comparison of the UC Campuses
• SAT Comparison for UC Admission