Short-changed - The plight of U.S. universities in the age of economic instability, or around the bend - The University of California in the present age - John S Levin

Oct 15, 2026

Public universities in the United States face conflicts between access and quality as state funding falls after the Great Recession. With an estimated US$800 million budget shortfall, the University of California chooses to preserve its leading position, using rational decision-making rather than major structural change. The article studies the conditions enabling this choice and the likely consequences, including risks of long-term research jeopardy and social stratification of students into different institutional types.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction: Hanging on, or stasis in a dynamic environment

Commission on the Future and campus initiatives

The higher education master plan, 1960–1975

Implications for access, affordability, and quality

A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W Short-changed The plight of U.S. universities in the age of economic instability, or around the bend: The University of California in the present age John S Levin University of California, Riverside, US Public universities in the US are now confronted with conflicts in their missions of access and quality, in the form of legitimacy, as they face severe funding reductions as a result of states’ responses to the Great Recession. With an US$800 million budget shortfall, the University of California has chosen to maintain its preeminent position among public universities in the US. This article examines the conditions for this choice and the impending outcomes. Introduction: Hanging on, or stasis in a dynamic environment What has been referred to as The Great Recession (Rampell, 2009) in the US might be seen as an opportunity for university leaders and all their staff to consider different ways of thinking about their practicesand their institutions’ purposes.Yet, in the main what has emerged are schemes and proposals to preserve and indeed enhance past practices and structures. Universities and colleges have worked to ‘hang on’: to maintain what they have and if necessary then to reduce expenditures by increments, across the board, and using expendable labour as a means of preservation of structures and practices. Nowhere is this more evident than in California where the University of California could be undergoing massive restructuring and resultant organisational change but instead is calmly conducting ‘business as usual’ through a rational process of decision-making and actions. This condition is consistent with trends nationally following the Great Recession (the term given to the 2008 economic collapse of several financial sectors in the US): considerable economic declines for US universi- ties and colleges, and an absence of major structural change. Responses by institutions suggest increasing gaps between wealthy and not wealthy students, in the quality of education and, according to higher education scholar Roger Geiger, long term jeopardy for research at distinguished universities, as public support for greater expenditures is unlikely (Geiger, 2010) . This lack of institutional structural change is presently the case for the University of California, with potential for further social stratification with students funnelled into specific institutional types—community colleges, state comprehensive universities, and research universities—based largely upon their socio-economic status. The immediate future—the coming decade—appears equally bleak for not only the University of California but for all of Californian public higher education (Douglass, 2010a, 2010b) . Within this context and in an effort to consider major structural change, the Regents of the University of California (UC) established a commission (The University of California Commission on the Future) in 2009 to give a public and high profile face to a rational approach to address present problems and chart a course for a more prosperous future. 56 Short-changed, John S Levin vol. 52, no. 2, 2010 A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W ‘Chair Russell S. Gould is charged with developing a new vision for the University within the context of the University’s mission, while reaffirming UC’s commitment to access, affordability and the highest levels of quality in instruction, research, public service and healthcare. UC must continue to play a vital role in sustaining California’s economy and cultural life, operating strategically and as efficiently as possible within available resources in the midst of the State’s dire financial crisis and into the future’(The University of California Commission on the Future, 2010) . Coming both before and after this commission have been individual campus initiatives and actions—there are 10 of these full-fledged research universitie

FAQs

What core challenge do U.S. public universities face after the Great Recession?

They face tensions between access and quality as states respond with severe funding reductions.

How does the University of California respond to its US$800 million budget shortfall?

It aims to maintain its preeminent position through rational decision-making and “business as usual,” rather than major structural restructuring.

What risk does the article highlight regarding institutional change in California?

Potential long-term jeopardy for research and increased social stratification as students are funneled into different institutional types.

Oct 15, 2026

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