The UC Budget Overview: Breaking Down the $26.7 Billion Operating Budget (2014-15)
Figure 1
Retrieved from: UCOP Operating Budget 2015-2016 (page 51)
Figure 2
Retrieved from: UCOP Operating Budget 2015-2016 (page 25)
Figure 3
Retrieved from: UCOP Operating Budget 2015-16 (page 52)
Figure 4
Retrieved from: UCOP Operating Budget 2015-16 (page 55) (Left) and LAO’s Financial Aid Overview (3/13/2014) (Right)
This graph set provides a broad overview of the UC’s $26.7 billion operating budget and breaks down the general costs and expenditures. The first three graphs give a general run-down of sources and expenditures of UC funds. The last graph presents one aspect of state funding that the UC overlooks in its budget report-- that of California scholarships, which has increased by about $700 million in Cal Grant Payments and about $107 million for 2014-15 year’s Middle Class Scholarship since 2001.
The first graph provides a general breakdown of sources of funding for the UC’s entire $26.7 billion 2014-15 operating budget. A quick explanation of category of university revenue can be found here in UC Office of President (UCOP)’s 2015-2016 budget report. The most notable category for students is the “Core Funds” section, which includes funding from the state (“State General Funds”) and student tuition and fees. Additionally, most of “UC General Funds” are made up of nonresident supplemental tuition. Collectively, “Core Funds” make up $6.91 billion of the UC budget. A more detailed explanation of the breakdown of “Core Funds” can be found here.
The second graph provides sources of UC’s $26.7 billion operating budget in 2015-16 and expenditures of funding for the UC’s $6.91 billion Core Funds in 2014-15. It should be noted that although the UC states that 1% of this budget goes to senior management salary, this percent still indicates a large amount of money is spent on senior managers, about $69.1 million (not including the larger administrative bloat nor explaining what constitutes as “senior management”). What the UC considers as “staff salaries” also costs about $1.52 billion. To put the expenditures into perspective, the UC justifies raising student tuition partly because state funding has decreased by about $460 million since 2007-08; furthermore, the UC’s proposed 5% tuition increase expects to bring in only $97.7 million in revenue. It seems more rational for a long-term budget balance to cut non-academic managers or staff, i.e. administrative bloat, instead of having to demand more sources of revenue from students and the state.
The third graph provides a 2013-14 overview of expenditures for UC’s Core Funds budget by type and by function. In the “2013-14 Core Fund Expenditures by Function” graph, it should be noted that what the UC considers as “instruction costs” (about $3.25 billion) includes many different academic goals outside of just undergraduate or graduate instruction. A new law by the state government asks the UC to break down this bundle by categories such as how much the UC spends on undergraduate versus graduate instruction, how much the UC spends on research, and how much money goes to each campus. However, recently the UC has consistently missed its deadlines to disclose this information.
The fourth graph compares state funding of the UC with the growth of state scholarships over time. Even though state general funds have decreased by about $460 million since 2007-08, California’s Cal Grant financial aid program has increased by more than $500 million for UC students in about the same period. The state of California has also approved of a Middle Class Scholarship to provide $107 million in aid to CSU and UC students in 2014-15 with a plan to eventually increase it to $305 million by 2017-18. UC-AFT President Robert Samuels makes mention of this fact that the UC gets this scholarship money by the state government even though the UC does not consider this money in its “State General Funds”. Instead, the UC still categorizes the state scholarship money as revenue from “Student Tuition and Fees”. In its 2012-13 budget, the UC states that of the $3 billion in revenue from student tuition and fees, $1.3 billion was actually not paid by students but by “grants and scholarships from federal, State, UC, and other sources”. Raising tuition thus not only shifts financial burden on students, but it is also a way for the UC to squeeze extra money from the state. The UC likes to point out that many students do not pay tuition because of scholarships, grants or financial aid, but the UC does not mention that the tuition still has to be paid for by someone else--and that someone else can oftentimes be the state government.
The first graph provides a general breakdown of sources of funding for the UC’s entire $26.7 billion 2014-15 operating budget. A quick explanation of category of university revenue can be found here in UC Office of President (UCOP)’s 2015-2016 budget report. The most notable category for students is the “Core Funds” section, which includes funding from the state (“State General Funds”) and student tuition and fees. Additionally, most of “UC General Funds” are made up of nonresident supplemental tuition. Collectively, “Core Funds” make up $6.91 billion of the UC budget. A more detailed explanation of the breakdown of “Core Funds” can be found here.
The second graph provides sources of UC’s $26.7 billion operating budget in 2015-16 and expenditures of funding for the UC’s $6.91 billion Core Funds in 2014-15. It should be noted that although the UC states that 1% of this budget goes to senior management salary, this percent still indicates a large amount of money is spent on senior managers, about $69.1 million (not including the larger administrative bloat nor explaining what constitutes as “senior management”). What the UC considers as “staff salaries” also costs about $1.52 billion. To put the expenditures into perspective, the UC justifies raising student tuition partly because state funding has decreased by about $460 million since 2007-08; furthermore, the UC’s proposed 5% tuition increase expects to bring in only $97.7 million in revenue. It seems more rational for a long-term budget balance to cut non-academic managers or staff, i.e. administrative bloat, instead of having to demand more sources of revenue from students and the state.
The third graph provides a 2013-14 overview of expenditures for UC’s Core Funds budget by type and by function. In the “2013-14 Core Fund Expenditures by Function” graph, it should be noted that what the UC considers as “instruction costs” (about $3.25 billion) includes many different academic goals outside of just undergraduate or graduate instruction. A new law by the state government asks the UC to break down this bundle by categories such as how much the UC spends on undergraduate versus graduate instruction, how much the UC spends on research, and how much money goes to each campus. However, recently the UC has consistently missed its deadlines to disclose this information.
The fourth graph compares state funding of the UC with the growth of state scholarships over time. Even though state general funds have decreased by about $460 million since 2007-08, California’s Cal Grant financial aid program has increased by more than $500 million for UC students in about the same period. The state of California has also approved of a Middle Class Scholarship to provide $107 million in aid to CSU and UC students in 2014-15 with a plan to eventually increase it to $305 million by 2017-18. UC-AFT President Robert Samuels makes mention of this fact that the UC gets this scholarship money by the state government even though the UC does not consider this money in its “State General Funds”. Instead, the UC still categorizes the state scholarship money as revenue from “Student Tuition and Fees”. In its 2012-13 budget, the UC states that of the $3 billion in revenue from student tuition and fees, $1.3 billion was actually not paid by students but by “grants and scholarships from federal, State, UC, and other sources”. Raising tuition thus not only shifts financial burden on students, but it is also a way for the UC to squeeze extra money from the state. The UC likes to point out that many students do not pay tuition because of scholarships, grants or financial aid, but the UC does not mention that the tuition still has to be paid for by someone else--and that someone else can oftentimes be the state government.
Composed by: Todd Lu, UCLA undergrad from Student collective against labor exploitation (SCALE)