Dive Brief:
- A University of California advisory committee on the university system’s cost structure has just two members: Gov. Jerry Brown and UC President Janet Napolitano.
- The governor proposed the committee after the university’s board of regents approved a tuition increase in November that he and other state lawmakers strongly opposed, the Washington Post reported.
- Brown had proposed a $120 million increase in funding for the 2015-16 school year, predicated on tuition remaining unchanged. When Napolitano and the regents proposed a 5% tuition hike, Brown retaliated with a budget proposing no increase.
Dive Insight:
Question No. 1: Who is chairing the committee?
Napolitano and Brown’s budget and tuition proposals could be labeled as exercises in brinksmanship, as the Post describes. California has a budget surplus that Brown is trying to protect for the next economic downturn, while Napolitano is proving to be politically savvy in her attempts to pry more money from the state’s coffers to improve the university system. The negotiations between the two are likely to last several months.