Statement by the UCLA History Assistant Professors

We are committed to equal access to all forms of higher education for the people of the State of California. We support the historic Master Plan’s vision of the UCs as providing the top 1/8 of California’s high school students with a world-class education, to the great benefit of both our students and our state.

We voice our concern that the draconian cuts enacted by the Regents threaten the integrity of that mission—by weakening and/or shrinking our superb institutions and their capacity to serve those students, by necessitating a reduction in in-state admissions in favor of more lucrative out-of-state ones, and by forcing tuition increases at a time of economic hardship and diminishing loan availability.

We deplore those who would use an economic downturn to permanently reduce or divest the state of its commitment to supporting our educational mission, and the mission of all of the state’s public institutions of higher learning—including the Community Colleges and the California State Universities. To damage any part of this system is to jeopardize equal access.

We are alarmed not only at the potential reduction in the availability of a UC degree, but also at its potential depreciation in value for our graduates seeking employment or advanced degrees.

We believe these consequences have not been adequately brought to the public’s attention during the budget debates. Many of these potential consequences will, nonetheless, become reality if we maintain this course, and some may prove to be difficult if not impossible to reverse.


William Marotti
Ra'anan Boustan
Andrea Goldman
Kelly Lytle Hernandez
Peter Stacey