Governor’s Revised Budget Provides More for Higher Education

On May 14, 2015, co-chairs of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education, Mel Levine and Dick Ackerman responded to the May revision of the 2015-16 California State Budget proposal.

When Governor Jerry Brown announced his May revision of the 2015-16 State Budget proposal, there was good news for public higher education campuses.  Community colleges will receive about $250 million in additional funding and the California State University system will receive an additional $38 million for operations plus another $35 million for energy improvements. The University of California will benefit from transfers to help meet unfunded pension liabilities–$96 million for 2015-16 and $170 million in each of the following two years.  UC tuition will be held at current levels for the next two years.

“The Governor’s revised Budget proposal marks a significant step forward in recognizing the critical importance of our public higher education system and providing increased financial stability for the University of California, the California State University system and our community colleges, while holding the line on tuition and fees,” commented Mel Levine and Dick Ackerman, co-chairs of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education.  “The next step must be to provide additional funding to allow our campuses to open their doors to more students, particularly qualified California applicants.”