With the declining economy and increasing tuition, UCs can’t rely on endowment funds
By Michael Dafter
Oct. 18, 2011 10:56 p.m.
UCLA is currently the second highest recipient of alumni donations in the UC system.
Yet, in order for me personally to agree to donate any amount of money at this point in my financial ““ or, more appropriately, lack of financial ““ situation, the hypothetical sales pitch would have to be out-of-this-world.
No, I mean literally. It would have to be divine, as in not pertaining to anything possible in reality.
And this sentiment reflects the major difference between current UC students and former alumni because of a major shift in the UC financial system. The way current students, who have had to deal with massive increases in tuition, will perceive their UCLA experience is much different than alumni, who paid as little as a couple thousand dollars in tuition a year.
As current students find the cost of their degree getting higher and higher while at the same time becoming less and less competitive in the work force, there is good reason to be somewhat ambivalent toward committing funds they don’t even have yet.
The donation rate for the UC system currently stands at an unimpressive 7.4 percent, a number that has been on the decline since 2002.
UCLA has indeed had many high-profile alumni donations, but they have not been without motley strings attached. The money from these donations usually goes toward specific departments or schools, often resulting in a building being named after the donor.
While private schools can rely on endowment funds, it is no mystery that the UC system is primarily funded by the state, and this state funding can be seen homologous to the heavily weighted endowment funds at other universities. However, this state funding is on the decline, and that means that the primary funding which UCLA receives is in a haggard position. For example, UCLA’s current endowment fund is $1.8 billion, which may seem like a lot until compared to the imposing $32 billion which Harvard yields. This is indicative of the fact that UCLA’s endowment fund is not the primary source of funding for general undergraduate education.
Asking students to donate future earnings while they are currently students is simply an impossibility, as students can’t possibly know if they will have the financial flexibility to donate at all. It is a moot point.
As UC funding declines, it becomes more of a necessity to ensure increased funding from private sources.
While I feel like UCLA has given me an amazing education, lifelong friends and the foundation to go forth into the world as the individual I am today, I couldn’t possibly imagine agreeing to give more money to the university than I already owe at this point.
And don’t misunderstand me, that doesn’t mean I won’t ever donate money, it just means I would first need money in order to donate it. And though I’m hopeful that my bachelor’s degree in philosophy will make me an extremely rich man right out of college, I, perhaps wisely, remain skeptical.
Though UCLA needs more money from private donors as state funding is on the decline, fostering a sense of commitment in current students to donate in the future is not the solution.
UCLA should be strengthening the alumni programs the school already has in place, particularly the programs which target getting students into the workforce, such as BruinWorks, Dinner for 12 Strangers and other events that support networking.
The students that have survived the financial instability the UC system has faced will understand just how far a dollar stretches, and just how necessary that dollar is.
Do you think recent UCLA graduates will be more likely to donate? Email Dafter at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].
