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The budget proposed Wednesday by Jerry Brown, California's Democratic governor, pleased leaders of the state's community college system while disappointing their counterparts at the California State University and University of California systems.
Brown wants to increase the two-year system's funding by $570 million, or roughly 4 percent. The proposed budget includes $120 million for a new online community college, which will be competency based and issue short-term credentials.
“California community colleges are serving 2.1 million students each year, but we are still not meeting the needs of 2.5 million others who for a variety of reasons cannot attend classes on our campuses,” Eloy Ortiz Oakley, the two-year system's chancellor, said in a written statement. “It’s our responsibility to bring the campus to them, and we can do that through a fully online college.”
Timothy White, Cal State's chancellor, called the proposed budget "both concerning and surprising." The $92 million increase for the state's system of regional comprehensive universities would be equal to 1.4 percent of its operating budget, White said in a written statement. Brown's budget document said the proposal would increase CSU's general fund by 3 percent.
"By nearly any measure, the CSU is fulfilling its mission better than ever before," he said. "Yet the proposed level of funding, as a percent of our operating budget, provides an increase to our operating budget that is half the rate of inflation. Directives and constraints within the proposal further limit our ability to address critical university needs."
UC also would receive a 3 percent increase to its general fund under the proposed budget.
"The University of California is pleased that the governor’s budget announced today provides for a funding increase to our core educational budget. This 3 percent increase, however, is less than we anticipated under the framework we established with the governor," George Kieffer, the system's board chair, and Janet Napolitano, its president, said in a written statement referring to a 2015 budget deal. "That agreement acknowledged the need for ongoing, predictable state funding to maintain UC quality and access while requiring the university to lower its cost structure."
