Nicholas Reese was trying to conduct research for a student meal swipe donation initiative when he discovered multiple UCLA financial deficits that have gone unpublicized.

Reese, a third-year political science student, said he learned through his research and an administrator that UCLA’s dining budget was inflated and the administration was going to rely on unused student swipes to fund that deficit.

“If there’s one budget issue, there’s got to be more,” Reese said. “I ended up doing a deep dive with some assistance from a professional consultant.”

Reese said in a written statement that he discovered a $1.27 billion deficit in UCLA operations. He added that he found UCLA has a nearly one-to-one employee to student ratio.

UCLA cannot account for nearly 6% of its employees in its Annual Financial Report and the Workforce Report, he said. Reese also said UCLA has faced a 60% increase of liabilities and debts.

He said it takes $2.87 billion to currently operate the university, when 10 years ago it was $1.7 billion.

The UCLA Annual Financial Report for the 2023-2024 fiscal year was due June 30, 2024 and is still yet to be published, Reese added.

In an effort to better understand these issues through a student lens, the Undergraduate Students Association Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on UCLA to establish a student financial transparency and oversight committee March 4.

The resolution’s primary sponsor is Internal Vice President-elect and current General Representative Tommy Contreras, who advocated for USAC support in the creation of a SFTOC to analyze the alleged budget deficits. The committee aims to prioritize transparency and accountability surrounding UCLA’s finances by addressing the financial deficits and publicizing the university’s financial information.

Contreras said this committee is important, as it will foster student agency. The committee will be run by students giving them an opportunity to critique and comment on UCLA’s financial decisions, Contreras said.

“Empowering students isn’t just about giving them a platform, it’s about ensuring they have the tools, knowledge and confidence to create meaningful change,” Contreras said. “When students raise their voices, they challenge systems – they inspire action and ignite progress.”

Contreras said there is currently no criteria for how individuals will be selected to be on the committee, but he hopes to ensure diverse representation. He added that he aims to have the SFOTC committee established by the next academic school year.

Assistant Director of Media Relations Katherine Alvarado said in an emailed statement that UCLA Student Affairs has discussed the resolution proposing the new committee with USAC.

“Student Affairs regularly meets and works with USAC, the governing body of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, and they coordinate on areas of interest that are important to all students,” Alvarado said in the statement. “There are ongoing discussions regarding the USAC financial transparency resolution taking place.”

Reese said he believes that the financial deficits can affect students’ housing, dining and classes and are therefore important to all students.

“You have rooms getting converted to triples, dining operations likely to get shifted because the budget’s overblown, you have chronic AFSCME strikes,” Reese added. “That’s greatly impacting students, classes are overenrolled… it’s getting harder to secure housing.”

Reese also said he believes students will never be granted financial transparency regarding where their tuition is going unless they advocate for it. He added that this resolution is intended to indicate to the administration that students are aware of the school’s financial issues.

“This resolution, and just the students addressing and learning about this issue in general, is intended to send a message that this is starting to get out of hand,” Reese said. “They can’t keep pretending that everything is fine and hoping that we’re all just going to keep moving along like things aren’t shifting under our feet.”