Editorial: UCLA’s worst: 1.) The trend toward privatization

California’s ongoing divestment from higher education
reached new lows this year. California citizens, as represented by
the officials they elected, have made it clear that they plan never
again to subsidize college education in a meaningful way. And no
one seems to care.

Already, the state funds barely 23 percent of UCLA’s
budget. During the past 35 years, the UC’s share of the state
budget has dropped from 7 percent to 3.5 percent.

Twenty years ago, the state contributed about $15,000 to the
education of an average UC student. Now, that contribution has
dropped to about $9,000. In 1985, students footed about 11 percent
of the total cost of their education. Today, they shoulder 30
percent of the responsibility.

In early October, Chancellor Carnesale said the most viable
response would be to increase student fees ““ perhaps by
double. He outlined a future where students would pay tuition of
$15,000 to $20,000 per year. Carnesale reasoned that students with
financial need would benefit from an increased pool of aid ““
a risky assumption that could easily make the UC inaccessible to
thousands of students.

The inspiring vision of the 1960 Master Plan has nearly
vanished. A public university is not simply a title or an ethos. It
is a structural reality. Soon the UC will not be the University of
California, but merely a University in California.

It is not an inevitability. There is an opportunity to rectify
this dangerous path.