<p>A new proposal suggests allowing University of California campuses to govern themselves, including the ability for each of the 10 campuses to set tuition costs.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education released the proposal on Monday, saying the structure of the university system has gotten so complex that it has inadvertently resulted in lost opportunities for the campuses.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles Times ( [Local</a> governance urged for UC campuses - latimes.com](<a href=“http://lat.ms/JuaVM7]Local”>Local governance urged for UC campuses)) says the plan would maintain the central Board of Regents for policy matters, such as admissions standards, state funding and negotiating union contracts.</p>
<p>But each campus would set their own tuition, decide the number of out-of-state students allowed, approve construction projects and control some investments.</p>
<p>Read more: [Proposal</a> would give local control over UC campuses](<a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/04/24/state/n053153D23.DTL#ixzz1syXDAMqd]Proposal”>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/04/24/state/n053153D23.DTL#ixzz1syXDAMqd)</p>
<p>I think this move is long overdue. As a UC Davis student, I found that UC system to be extremely bureaucratic and inefficient, and my goal during my undergrad experience was to just hurry up and graduate before the system completely fell apart on itself. Many of the older buildings were deteriorating, and it seemed that there was “no money to renovate them,” despite the fact that tuition was $13k per year for in-state, and $35k out-of-state, and the CA budget for the UC system totaled over $22.4 billion for budget year 2011-12.</p>
<p>Speaking of the budget, the state pre-allocated the funding into set categories: 19.2% went to instruction (general instruction, health sciences, summer sessions, UC extension), 3.2% went to research, 25.9% went to teaching hospitals, and 21.7% went to “extramural programs” (whatever that is). The rest would get micro-allocated into smaller categories – 1.2% went to public service (really???), 5.3% went to academic support, 2.8% went to student services, 4.6% went to student financial aid, 3.7% went to institutional support, and so on. If you’re interested, here’s next year’s budget proposal: [Governor’s</a> Budget - 6440 University of California](<a href=“http://govbud.dof.ca.gov/StateAgencyBudgets/6013/6440/department.html]Governor’s”>http://govbud.dof.ca.gov/StateAgencyBudgets/6013/6440/department.html)</p>
<p>The bottom line is that the UC system is so large, and the campuses are so different from one-another, that a “one-size-fits-all” budget would not be a very effective way to fund the school system.</p>
<p>it will be years, if not decades, before the Regents (and Legislature) give up that control.</p>