Dive Brief:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2026-27 budget proposal, released Friday, would devote hundreds of millions of dollars in new funds collectively to the state’s universities and community colleges.
- Under the proposal, the University of California system would get $5.3 billion — an increase of 5%, or $254.3 million — in its base general fund allotment. The California State University system would receive $5.6 billion, a 5% bump to its current state funding worth $264.8 million.
- Meanwhile, the California Community Colleges system would receive $15.4 billion in general funds and property taxes, for a year-over-year increase of 9%, or $1.3 billion.
Dive Insight:
If passed by the California State Legislature, Newsom’s budget would bolster state funding for California’s universities at a time of enrollment growth, financial strain and federal political turmoil. The governor is set to revise his proposal with updated forecasts in May, before the Legislature negotiates and votes on the budget during the summer.
Newsom’s proposal includes a base funding increase of $96.3 million for UC, part of one-time special funds created by California’s multiyear “compact” with its universities, an agreement to boost funding in return for the institutions improving access, equity, and affordability and meeting other state goals. Cal State would get an additional $100.9 million as part of the program.
Newsom's proposal won praise from University of California President James Milliken. “The budget introduced today by Governor Newsom continues to provide critical support for the University and our students,” Milliken said in a statement Friday, expressing the strong need for the state support amid rising costs and “unprecedented federal actions" against the university.
That marks a significant break from this time last year, when Newsom’s proposal for fiscal 2025 would have reduced UC’s funding by $271 million and Cal State’s by $375 million. The heads of both systems warned at the time of the deep impacts the shortfalls would have. Ultimately, the final budget avoided funding cuts while deferring nearly $274 million in funding to the two university systems from 2025-26 to 2026-27.
Newsom’s proposed funding spike for the upcoming year comes as California’s universities — once so generously funded by the state as to be tuition-free — face multiple pressures.
UC has seen record enrollment growth for the current academic year, with its undergraduate student body reaching 200,000 and total enrollment nearing 302,000 in fall 2025.
The California Community Colleges system, meanwhile, has rebounded from pandemic-era enrollment losses — to 2.2 million students across its 116 campuses in the 2024-25 academic year. Additional growth expected this year and next, according to the governor's budget document.
UC and Cal State have made budget cuts throughout their respective systems. Last March, UC asked its campuses to freeze hiring and institute budget reductions as the system braced for funding disruption.
UCLA took further steps in August, including pausing faculty hiring and consolidating its IT department. Added to budget pressures brought on economic headwinds, the Trump administration has attempted to exact budget reprisals against the university. The administration froze over half a billion dollars in research funding and has tried to extract $1 billion as payment for alleged antisemitism largely related to a protest encampment on UCLA’s campus in 2024.
A federal judge in November found the Trump administration’s funding freeze unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction barring it from withholding the research money.
Meanwhile, Cal State has undergone years of cost cuts. In 2024, facing a $1 billion systemwide budget deficit, the institution required cuts at all of its campuses, which today number 22 as the Cal State Maritime Academy is being folded into another of the system’s campuses .
California's 2026-27 budget year begins July 1.
