While UC Berkeley stands to lose millions of dollars in funding due to the federal sequester, the campus has yet to develop a plan to mitigate these effects.
Following Congress’ failure to reach an agreement on a budget deal by March 1, the federal government will face $85 billion in automatic spending reductions. Those spending cuts are expected to continue over the next 10 years, totaling approximately $1.2 trillion in cuts in federal spending.
Among numerous cuts, UC Berkeley will see a reduction in federal support for research grants, financial aid and work-study programs.
Still, the campus remains uncertain about how it will cope with the cuts in funding.
“We need information from federal authorities regarding what to expect on the research side and on the financial aid side,” said UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore.
Across California, 9,600 fewer students will receive financial aid this year, according to a statement from the White House.
While the federal Pell Grant program will not be subjected to immediate reductions in funding, it could face deep cuts beginning in the 2014 fiscal year, according to Gilmore. Thirty-five percent of UC Berkeley undergraduates received Pell Grants during the 2011-12 academic year.
Students employed in work-study positions will also bear some of the brunt of the sequester. In California, 3,690 fewer students will receive work-study jobs, according to a statement from the White House.
“I couldn’t imagine putting the entire burden of my loans and room and board on my parents,” said Haley Tessaro, who is employed as a secretary at the Haas School of Business under UC Berkeley’s work-study program.
Additionally, there will be an $86 million reduction in Federal Work-Study and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants across the nation, according to a statement from Information for Financial Aid Professionals.
“Cal is a great institution, but with lower financial help for students in need, just being a great institution isn’t enough,” Tessaro said.
In the next fiscal year, UC Berkeley’s research programs, 63 percent of which are financed by federal funds, are expected to face $49 million in cuts.
The programs have already incurred $49 million in cuts this past fiscal year, as federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health have been implementing cuts in research grants since October in anticipation of the sequester.
Federal contracts and grants constitute about 18 percent of campus revenue.
Recognizing that 85 percent of NIH’s funds are allocated to universities across the nation, including UC Berkeley, NIH director Francis Collins said the “impact will be felt across all 50 states.”
Collins said the agency will be penny-pinching, looking for anything that could possibly be delayed as well as cutting travel and conference spending.
“There definitely is a high level of concern, particularly knowing that we have already seen an impact on the research side,” Gilmore said. “We need answers in order to understand what to expect and what students’ financial future looks like.”
Alex Berryhill covers higher education. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @berryhill93.