Leaders of California's public colleges and universities said today that they are preparing for mid-year "trigger" cuts to their already-reduced budgets.
Under the budget Gov. Jerry Brown signed at the end of June, California State University and University of California stand to lose another $100 million if revenues do not meet expectations by the end of this year. California's community colleges are in line to lose $102 million in trigger cuts, Chancellor Jack Scott said in a conference call with reporters today.
"I'm sure they'll ... cut back on the number of sessions they'll offer in the spring and many of them will eliminate their summer sessions," Scott said of the state's 72 community college districts.
Brown's budget called for community colleges to handle the trigger cut by raising tuition from $36 a unit to $46 unit. But Scott said he hoped to convince lawmakers not to implement the tuition increase until the fall.
CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said he thought his system could handle the $100 million trigger cut without raising tuition in the middle of the school year. But he said he's not clear if the trigger cut would be ongoing.
"If they pull the trigger, is that a one-time $100 million (cut) and they'll replace it next year?" Reed said.
"If it is a one-time cut, we can muddle our way through. If it is a continuation cut, that is going to be much harder going into 2012-13."
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