By the Numbers: Audit accuses University of California of favoring out-of-state students

A scathing new state audit accuses the University of California of hurting in-state students by increasingly admitting applicants from outside the Golden State. The proportion of out-of-state students has grown from about 5% of the student body in 2008 to 15.5% today.

More in-state applicants

Despite an increase in applications from in-state students, the University of California’s resident undergraduate enrollment has remained flat.

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Out-of-state-undergrads on the rise

The number of out-of-state undergraduates has more than tripled since 2008.  UC officials said they increased nonresident students, who pay an extra $25,000 in tuition per year, to allow them to accept more Californians in the face of massive budget cuts imposed after the 2008 recession. 

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University of California revenue

The state provides 10% of total UC revenue while tuition and fees provide another 14%. State support has historically been a larger source of revenue than tuition, but that changed after the recession drove funding per student down by 50% between 2007-08 and 2012-13. State support has begun to increase again.

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Spending per student

One of the concerns of Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D-Carson), who requested the audit, was that campuses with more underrepresented minorities were getting less money per student, on average, than campuses with fewer minorities. UC has revised its funding formulas and expects campus spending to be equalized by 2016-17.

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State support declines as tuition rises

UC historically has been funded primarily by state dollars. But after the 2008 recession, state support plunged by $1 billion, or about one-third of UC's budget, before slowly increasing again. UC initially raised tuition to cover the losses but has frozen the level for the past five years.

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Sources: California state auditor’s analysis of data obtained from the University of California Office of the President’s UC Information Center Enrollment Data Mart and UC 2014–15 budget for current operations and undergraduate admissions system and other operational data; California state auditor based on University of California’s fiscal year 2014-15 audited financial statements.