As California continues to grapple with its $19 billion budget deficit, a leading business school in the University of California system wants to opt of public funding and turn to private donors to fill the gap instead, the Financial Times reported.
The UCLA Anderson School of Management has proposed turning to private donors such as Black Rock founder Larry Fink and Pimco founder Bill Gross to provide the funds that would normally come from the state, allowing the UC system to reallocate those funds to UCLA’s underfunded undergraduate program.
UCLA Anderson Dean Judy Olian praised the proposal as a “creative solution” in an interview with the FT. The decision to opt out of public funding is now awaiting approval from Mark Yudof, president of the UC system.
About 18 per cent of UCLA Anderson’s $90 million budget currently comes from the state, which includes student tuition. Moving to a private funding model would include tuition increases, Olian told the FT, but these would be in line with previous years, she said. Fees have steadily risen as state contributions have fallen, she said. “That train left the station a long time ago as state support declined,” she added.
Tuition at UCLA Anderson, which currently costs $41,000 a year to California residents and $49,000 to non-residents, would likely rise to match that of top-tier private business schools such as Wharton and Stanford when the school opts out of public funding, according to the FT report. If approved, the move is set to come into effect by next summer.
For the full FT article, click here.
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