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UCLA Wins OK to Make MBA Program 'Self-Supporting'

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June 27, 2013

Mark G. Yudof, president of the University of California, has approved a controversial proposal by the University of California at Los Angeles business school to make its M.B.A. program "self-supporting." Under the plan, the business school would gain more autonomy and flexibility for managing the program in return for giving up the $8 million it would otherwise receive from the state for the program. UCLA officials have argued that since that money is now a small share of operating funds, it can make up the difference -- and stands to gain more from increased autonomy. Some faculty critics have called the plan "privatization" -- a word avoided by proponents of the plan. The announcement of Yudof's approval noted conditions he placed on the concept. On issues of academic quality, the M.B.A. program remains subject to the same policies governing other professional schools in the UC system. Further, financial aid for low-income students must be provided at similar levels to those of other UC M.B.A. programs.

Scott Jaschik

Scott Jaschik, Editor, is one of the three founders of Inside Higher Ed. With Doug Lederman, he leads the editorial operations of Inside Higher Ed, overseeing news content, opinion pieces, career advice, blogs and other features. Scott is a leading voice on higher education issues, quoted regularly in publications nationwide, and publishing articles on colleges in publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Salon, and elsewhere. He has been a judge or screener for the National Magazine Awards, the Online Journalism Awards, the Folio Editorial Excellence Awards, and the Education Writers Association Awards. Scott served as a mentor in the community college fellowship program of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, of Teachers College, Columbia University. He is a member of the board of the Education Writers Association. From 1999-2003, Scott was editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Scott grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and graduated from Cornell University in 1985. He lives in Washington.