Jan 09 2009
The Absurdity of the UC Budget
When the UC’s have to take a budget cut in the amount of money the state provides them you always hear this refrain: We are going to have to cut classes, faculty and raise student fees because we don’t have enough money.
Without a doubt, you always hear that chorus.
And the funny thing is, it is quite absurd.
Last month the UC system paid nearly $33 million back to students because they were overcharged for their fees. The interest boosted the total to over $42 million.
In response to how this affected the UCs in this horrible budget year, the spokesperson said it wouldn’t affect the UC system at all.
The reasonable conclusion from this is: They had $42 million lying around!
If they have $42 million lying around, they should have to have their budget cut by $42 million. I have repeatedly said that the state overfunds the UC system. There is quite a bit more funding to the UCs from the state than the state universities in other states get. This only proves my point.
In a tight budget year, a $42 million payout should have some effect. For the UCs to be so blatant about it having no effect means they need a $42 million cut.
See, we just found some money to help in the budget solution.
