The campus environments are anti-American. The students are anti-intellectual. And the people who run the system are
ripping off the taxpayers:
The University of California’s headquarters hid $175 million from the public in a secret fund while the Office of the President was demanding more state funds, according to a report released Tuesday by state Auditor Elaine Howle.
The office of UC President Janet Napolitano amassed millions in the secret reserve fund by overestimating the funding needed to run the 10-campus university system — and then spending less than budgeted. It would continue asking for increased funding based on the overestimates, according to Howle.
Napolitano’s office also created a secret budget over the course of four years to spend the hidden money, the audit found. Included in the undisclosed funds were $32 million collected from campuses that could have been spent on students.
Perhaps in this day and age, publicly-funded universities are an anachronism. So what's California considering? Double down, with free college for all, of course! But there are only 7 of us in the whole state who, in true Cassandra fashion,
say what cannot be said:
But there’s one big problem: California can’t afford this plan.
The state is predicting a slight budget deficit for this fiscal year, and the state treasury receipts are already running nearly a quarter of a billion dollars behind January’s forecast.
It’s irresponsible to imagine that we can add an entirely new — and, at a cost of $1.6 billion, very expensive — program...
There are ways for state legislators to assist California’s struggling students, even without a huge new program.
One way to make a degree less expensive is to help students graduate on time.
Another is for students not to major in interpretive dance or Aggrieved Victims Studies. But that's just one of my ideas.
I wonder how much of that was my tuition.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the tuition receipts show the distribution of payments-- my school shows to the cent where our tuition and federal grants go and then send a report back at the end of the semester showing discrepancies and providing, in some cases, credits or discounts for the next semester. It empowers students to know where our dollars go and allows us to vote for increases with more information. The universities in other states also often internalize tuition changes and allow student panels to approve new projects and budgets before asking tax payers to take on a greater burden. It gives us more autonomy but also more responsibility, which leads to more credibility with our state.
ReplyDeleteI graduated from the UC. Now I don't want my kids to go there. I wish it was a good place, but I'm no longer convinced it is.
ReplyDeletePikers! The U of Wisconsin managed to hide away over $500 million!
ReplyDeleteAnon: We have a high school junior, which means our college search is beginning...and I look out at the higher ed landscape and see flames everywhere. Can we find a school for her where she can be as apolitical as she wants (and she hates politics,) can just study what she wants, with a curriculum that is challenging, get a degree, and get on with her life? I'm not sure it's possible anymore.
ReplyDelete@Auntie-you might look at schools like Texas A&M or Rice-where politics are secondary to academics. I am incensed that my own alma mater seems to have knuckled under to the left thanks to pressure from the Methodist church. Choose wisely-bigger is not necessarily better. And tell your daughter to hang onto her degree plan from her freshman year-the bigger the campus the more likely they are to try to tack on additional requirements at the end of the road.
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