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The following news release was issued on Thursday, Jan. 9, regarding 1997-98 state funding for UC proposed by the governor.

Mike Lassiter
Director, News & Communications, UCOP
________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 9, 1997
Rick Malaspina (510) 987-9179
rick.malaspina@ucop.edu

UC PRESIDENT APPLAUDS GOVERNOR'S BUDGET PLAN

Gov. Pete Wilson's 1997-98 proposed state budget provides the funding necessary to keep general fees for University of California students at the same level for the fourth consecutive year--an action praised by UC's president as "a tremendous benefit" to students and their families.

In his budget proposal announced today (Thursday, Jan. 9), the governor also provided UC with funding to help restore faculty salaries to competitive levels, expand outreach to prospective college students and continue cooperative research with industry as a means of fueling the state's economic growth.

"The governor's budget is good news for the University of California and represents a tremendous benefit for our students and their families," UC President Richard C. Atkinson said.

"The governor, through this proposal, is renewing the promise extended to past generations of Californians of an affordable, accessible and high-quality university education," Atkinson added.

"I am grateful for Gov. Wilson's support and optimistic that the Legislature, as it has for the past two years, will sustain the health of California's system of higher education."

The governor's proposal fulfills for a third year his four-year compact with higher education to bring fiscal stability and predictability to UC and the California State University. It fully funds UC's state funding request, assuring for the near term the university's ability to maintain the excellence of its programs, continue to offer a place at a UC campus to all eligible California residents seeking admission and to provide the classes that students need to graduate in a timely fashion.

The governor's decision to add $37 million over and above the compact to eliminate the need for a fee increase parallels a priority set last fall by the UC Board of Regents. If additional state funding became available for 1997-98, the board stated, student fees would remain at the current level.

If approved by the Legislature, the governor's proposal would provide the university with an increase of 6.1 percent, or $125.7 million, in state general funds, for a total of $2.19 billion in state funding.

Under the governor's proposal, mandatory student fees for California residents next fall would remain at $3,799 a year--marking the third straight year the governor has augmented UC's budget to "buy out" the need for a general fee increase. The amount does not include miscellaneous campus fees, which bring the total average fee for resident undergraduate students to $4,166 a year.

The governor's budget also calls for:

The governor's budget also provides $150 million for capital improvement projects on UC's nine campuses. The funding derives from Proposition 203, the higher education bond approved by voters in March 1996. The governor's proposal also makes available another $21.7 million in state funds to match federal funding for earthquake repairs at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences.

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