After struggling through the 2009-2010 budget cuts, Cal State Long Beach will be facing even bigger budget problems in 2010-2011, and will be forced to reduce enrollment and cut class sections once more.
An e-mail CSULB President F. King Alexander sent to students and faculty last Monday spoke about the governor’s proposed budget for the 2010-2011 school year. He mentioned that the new state budget would prioritize higher education above other areas, including state spending for prisons, and would replace some of the funding cut last year by a recommendation from the California State University trustees that $305 million be restored to the CSU system.
The $305 million is not related to the additional federal funding the CSU might receive. However, this proposal must first survive the legislative process and no one can be sure if the money will arrive at all.
For example, the $60.6 million of enrollment growth funding is contingent on California receiving $6.9 billion of additional federal funds outside higher education. According to President F. King’s email, most experts have expressed severe doubts that the full $6.9 billion will be received.
According to Dave Dowell, vice provost and director of strategic planning at CSULB, if the money does arrive, $15 to $18 million of the $46 million cut this year might be restored to CSULB.
“We would have to wait and see how the CSU allocated the funding,” Dowell said in an e-mail.
CSULB’s unresolved budget problem for 2010-2011 is nearly $27.5 million, according to CSULB 2010-2011 preliminary budget projection available on CSULB’s Budget Central’s Web page.
“This funding would be very important to saving course sections next year. In 2009-2010 we cut about 1,200 sections out of fall and spring schedules,” Dowell said. “We are currently planning to do something similar for next year. This funding would prevent much of that loss of course sections.”
According to Dowell, students, staff and faculty at CSULB could face cuts to support for faculty scholarship, student support, classes, operating expenses, administration and temporary staff.
“If received, the $305 million would prevent many of these cuts,” Dowell said.
Even if the full $305 million were received, it wouldn’t be enough to cover all budget cuts of nearly $600 million to the CSU last year, but if the governor’s proposal passes the California Legislature, it would help to prevent some of the expected cuts.
According to CSULB’s Budget Central’s PDF-presentation, CSULB will reduce enrollment by 10.8 percent in 2010-2011. The governor’s proposed budget contains increased funding of $60.6 million for 2.5 percent enrollment growth, which is about 8,290 full-time equivalent students.
“If we received augmentation, we would not reduce our enrollment as much,” Dowell said in an email. He added that CSULB is planning to reduce more than 3,000 full-time equivalent students, but if the proposed funding is received, they might only reduce it by 1,000 full-time equivalent students.
“As I understand it, the $6.9 billion in federal stimulus money for next year is unlikely,” Dowell said. “In the unlikely event that it were received we’d be able to retain about another 700 full-time equivalent students in addition to the figures above in enrollment.”
CSULB will continue with the same budget planning assumptions already in place. The coming months will reveal the outcomes of the governor’s budget proposal.