The results come from the systemwide 2012 UC Undergraduate Experience Survey, with questions on academic engagement, community involvement and financial background.

According to the survey results, 82 percent of UC students responding said they were content with their overall education. Despite more than $900 million in state funding cuts to the university over the last five years, this percentage has remained relatively constant since 2006.

“I think that shows that despite the economic recession and the decreased funding to UC in recent years, we’ve been able to continue serving our students really well,” said Shelly Meron, spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, in an email.

But while academic approval has remained relatively constant, students are increasingly unhappy with the cost of getting a degree. The survey found that student satisfaction with the value of a UC education is now at 60 percent, down from 71 percent in 2006. The percent of students worried about the cost of tuition has increased from 64 to 71 percent over the last two years alone.

“Obviously we’re concerned about tuition increases, and we’re continuing to work with state legislators and the governor to resolve UC’s funding issues,” Meron said in the email.

Sereeta Alexander, research analyst at the UC Berkeley Office of Planning and Analysis, said that the campus’s own survey of new students has found similar results — that students are concerned about financing their education in the next few years.

“(The results) show that we should be thinking about how we should support students more with financial aid and scholarships — even if tuition and fees are rising,” Alexander said.

CalSERVE Senator and Executive Vice President-elect Nolan Pack said that higher student costs may reduce campus involvement, another issue studied in the survey.

“The more a college education costs, the more students have to work while they’re in school and the less time they have to do other things like public service or civic engagement,” Pack said. “The more we increase tuition, the more we’re chipping away at the holistic college experience.”

Pack also criticized possible plans to make tuition more affordable through online education, pointing out that the high academic satisfaction rates show that students value a classroom education.

“It’s clear that the quality of a UC education remains very high, but the state’s continued divestment from higher education puts that at risk,” Pack said. “The fact that students are overwhelmingly satisfied with faculty and instruction should say something. Online education … contradicts the experience of being in the classroom.”

Contact Alison Fu at afu@dailycal.org.

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The vote to strike — which passed with more than 97 percent support — comes after the university and the union failed to come to an agreement during ongoing contract negotiations, which began last June. The union alleges that the university’s prioritization of profits reduces patient-care quality, while the university argues that the strike is an attempt to gain bargaining leverage and divert attention from the union’s refusal of pension reforms during negotiations.

The suggested pension reforms include an increased contribution from both the university and employees toward the costs of pension benefits as well as revised eligibility rules for retirement health benefits, according to Shelly Meron, a media specialist with the UC Office of the President.

However, AFSCME, which represents nearly 13,000 patient-care workers from medical centers and student health centers across all 10 UC campuses, said the union is striking because the suggested pension reforms are another attempt by the university to maintain high-paying executive pensions. Representatives from AFSCME say those funds should instead be used for patient care.

“At this point, (the university has) certainly made clear they will not negotiate until we agree to protect their entitlements,” said AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “Pension reform subsidizes their massive benefits. We are not going to stand for that.”

Such pensions and high-paying executive salaries have caused understaffing and cost-cutting in the UC medical system that is impacting the quality of patient care, said union spokesperson Todd Stenhouse.

The union says these new cuts and financial decisions have left the medical centers unable to provide the care patients deserve due to unnecessary stress and inadequate training on the use of hazardous materials in patient-care areas.

“The (university) needs to get its priorities straight,” Stenhouse said. “They need to stop this idea that executive salaries are their top fiscal priority … These are publicly funded hospitals that are here to serve California, and we are here to make sure they stay the crown jewels of the state.”

However, Meron asserts that the pension reforms are needed to ensure the university’s pension programs are financially sustainable.

“We are dealing with a $24 billion unfunded liability,” she said. “We want to make sure the (pension programs are) sustainable over time.”

In a press release from April, the university stated that AFSCME is trying to use patient care as a tool in contract negotiations, which can endanger the patients’ health. Meron said the university will prepare contingency plans for medical center operations — which include patient care — in case of a strike.

But a report published by AFSCME last month alleged that the UC hospitals have increased executive payroll by $100 million since 2009 and are the ones endangering patients by cutting care jobs and outsourcing them to less experienced workers.

The union is also preparing to take patient protection measures, including a 10-day notice of a strike and the formation of a Patient Protection Task Force in the event of an emergency.

The dates and duration of the union strike have not yet been finalized.

Alyssa Neumann covers city government. Contact her at aneumann@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @AlyNeumann.

Clarification(s):
A previous version of this article may have implied that the University of California will prepare contingency plans for patients. In fact, the university will prepare contingency plans for medical center operations, which include patient care.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the vote to strike came after the University of California and the union failed to come to an agreement during contract negotiations last June. In fact, the vote to strike comes after the university and union failed to come to an agreement during ongoing contract negotiations, which began last June.

A previous version of this article also incorrectly quoted Meron as saying that pension that the UC wants to make sure the UC medical centers are sustainable over time. In fact, she said that the university wanted to make sure that pension programs are sustainable over time.

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The UC SHIP Advisory Board, which consists of student and health care representatives from each UC campus and from the UC Office of the President, voted unanimously in favor of eliminating the $10,000 annual prescription drug coverage cap. All but one campus voted in favor of eliminating the $400,000 lifetime coverage cap and instead voted in favor of raising the lifetime limit to $500,000, according to UC spokesperson Brooke Converse.

For months, students have been urging UC SHIP officials to have the plan voluntarily comply with the Affordable Care Act’s ban on lifetime and annual prescription drug limits on essential care. As a self-funded insurance plan, UC SHIP is exempt from the health care reform law.

Few students actually surpass the coverage caps, but for those who do, like Kenya Wheeler, a former graduate student in city planning at UC Berkeley, the effects can be devastating. Wheeler began treatment for primary central nervous system T-cell lymphoma in November 2011. Since then, he has met the lifetime coverage cap and has had to pay at least $10,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for his treatment.

“The advisory board that oversees UC SHIP considered removing the caps last year, too, but didn’t recommend making that change for the 2012-13 academic year because of the increases to student premiums that would have resulted,” said UCOP spokesperson Shelly Meron in an email. “It was the intent of the advisory board to reconsider the removal of the plan benefit limits and to time that with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2014.”

The movement to lift the caps comes as UC SHIP is facing a projected $57 million deficit by the end of the current plan year. The UC Office of the President has considered raising premiums by an average of 25 percent systemwide as a way to close the deficit.

Lifting the coverage caps would not affect the deficit, Converse said, although it would require another premium increase that is expected to be significantly smaller than the proposed 25 percent.

The advisory board’s recommendation will now be considered by the UC SHIP Executive Committee, a group of top UCOP and campus health officials, at its April 24 meeting. Following its recommendation, the Council of Chancellors will make the final decision on lifting the caps. The council is scheduled to meet May 1.

Several lawmakers have expressed support for eliminating the caps. Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, urged in a letter in February to align UC SHIP with the national standards set in place by the Affordable Care Act. State Assemblymember Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, introduced a bill in February that would force health insurance plans run by a university or college to comply with the section of the Affordable Care Act that lifts limits on lifetime and annual coverage of essential health benefits.

Mitchell Handler covers academic and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org

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AB 314 would force health insurance plans run by a university or college to comply with a section of the Affordable Care Act that lifts limits on lifetime and annual coverage of essential health benefits. Because UC SHIP is a self-funded plan — students pay into a health care fund that the UC system manages — it is exempt from the health care reform law and currently imposes a $400,000 lifetime coverage cap and a $10,000 annual prescription drug coverage cap.

“We felt it’s important that students have the same protections as every other American,” said Assemblymember Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, who is the lead author of the bill. “I think that it’s important that the state make a firm decision and make it law that students deserve the same protections as other insured Californians for their health plans.”

Under AB 314, UC SHIP would not be allowed to impose caps on the 10 categories of “essential health benefits” as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services, including prescription drugs, hospitalization and maternity and newborn care. Like all health insurance plans that are regulated by the Affordable Care Act, limits could still be put in place for health care that does not fall under any of the essential benefit categories, like adult dental care.

The movement to lift the caps comes as UC SHIP is facing a projected $57 million deficit by this summer. The UC Office of the President has considered raising premiums by an average of 25 percent systemwide as a way to close the deficit. Lifting the coverage caps would require another premium increase, although it is expected to be significantly smaller than the increase proposed to close the deficit.

Although the university does not have an official position on AB 314, UCOP spokesperson Shelly Meron said the UC system is currently analyzing the costs of lifting the caps.

“As the university considers removing the caps, we’re cognizant of the need to keep the plan financially viable and affordable for students,” Meron said in an email. “We have to balance all of those factors as we move forward.”

After passing through the Assembly Committee on Health, the bill now awaits the chamber’s appropriations committee.

“The Obamacare law, the ACA, makes these kinds of caps illegal, and we don’t believe that the UC system should have the ability to implement a rule that, just because they can, adversely affects a portion of the UC student population,” said Darius Kemp, director of organizing and communications for the UC Student Association.

Mitchell Handler covers academics and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @mitchellhandler.

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This month, both the regents and Brown called for an expanded online program to serve students throughout the state, citing cost reduction and system efficiency as university priorities that online education could address. Campuses are hoping that “short-term investments” made now can establish long-term programs that are “financially viable and sustainable,” according to an executive summary from the UC Office of the President released at the Jan. 16 UC Board of Regents meeting.

Despite the calls for millions of dollars in funding to build online courses at the university, administrators have yet to determine whether these courses can generate significant revenue.

“I don’t necessarily think that we at UC know if (online education is) going to save money or make revenue, but no one really has the answer,” said UC media specialist Shelly Meron. “Everyone is struggling with (determining) what’s an effective business model.”

Like many UC campuses, UC Berkeley currently operates a campus-specific program that involves massive open online courses and UC Extension courses as well as some online courses that directly correspond to campus classes and are primarily offered in the summer.

Brown’s proposed budget, released Jan. 10, allocates $10 million to both the UC and CSU systems and $16.9 million to community colleges for online education exclusively — money that, if approved, could go to expanding course offerings online for undergraduates.

A primary focus of the university’s current online efforts has been UC Online, a systemwide program launched last January that offers courses to both non-UC and UC students for credit. While the program initially intended to make money from nonmatriculated student enrollment, nearly all participating students have come from within the system.

Still, UC Online plans to continue expanding, aiming to add approximately 20 new courses at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year, according to the UC Office of the President. At UC Berkeley specifically, online courses may soon be approved for the fall and spring semesters, said Armando Fox, academic director of the Berkeley Resource Center for Online Education.

While online education at the university has not lived up to financial expectations, its success as a teaching model has led to increased efficiency and a higher quality of instruction, both of which lead to indirect financial gains, according to Fox.

“The number of students who have failed and had to retake courses has dropped dramatically,” Fox said. “They graduate faster. They get into the workforce faster. Every part of (the online) equation points to cheaper, just not in the microscopic sense.”

UC Student Regent Jonathan Stein said that looking forward, he hopes to gather student input on online education in the coming months through small group discussions and larger forums.

“If we are talking about moving UC classes online, then we have to have a longer conversation,” Stein said. “I’m not sure students are in support of that. We don’t know if we are talking about supplementing the classroom experience with online or exclusively online courses. We just don’t know.”

Libby Rainey covers higher education. Contact her at lrainey@dailycal.org.

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By equipping more citizens with college credentials, including associate and community college degrees, the 13-page report by California Competes states California can ensure that its job market will consist of intelligent and educated minds and remain a competitive economic state.

Currently, the state has a total GDP of $1.9 trillion, representing 13 percent of the national GDP. According to the report, California will need to produce 2.3 million post-secondary degrees and certificates by 2025 in order to maintain a strong economy.

In order to get there, the California Competes Council, made up of 13 civic and business leaders, outlines a series of recommendations for the state, which focus heavily on system and financial management. By holding both local- and state-level leaders more accountable for system management, the report states that financial woes can be alleviated.

In the report, the authors clearly state that they aimed their findings at policy makers and organizations like the Public Policy Institute of California in hopes of instigating changes within the state education system.

Hans Johnson, Bren policy fellow at the institute, said the institute has been looking at this problem for quite a while, especially because California is currently not creating pathways for more educated workers.

“There is not a shortage of knowledge about how to get more students into college and through college,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t improve, but there is a shortage of goal setting and planning. The problem as a state isn’t that we don’t know what works; it is that we haven’t set goals.”

In order provide more consistent and effective higher education for California residents, California Competes outlines a series of issues and recommendations for the state including ensuring that each degree received is meaningful and that a college degree becomes more meaningful rather than just symbolic to employers.

However, due to the recent budget cuts in California, Johnson said it is becoming difficult to ensure that meaningful degrees are issued because as funding is slashed, public institutions must cut enrollment in order to ensure that degrees remain of the same caliber.

“In order to preserve quality for the remaining students, we limit the number of students that we bring in,” Johnson said. “This is antithetical to our mission but it is what we do to ensure that the degree still means something.”

The UC and CSU have been faced with the problem of choosing between qualities of degrees versus quantity of degrees, which has been put to the test throughout California’s public institutions.

“We would love to educate more students, but unfortunately we don’t have the funding to do so because of the severe cuts the state has made to UC,” said UC spokesperson Shelly Meron in an email.

Despite the challenging financial environment that the university is in, four out of five incoming UC students will graduate within six years, and four years later more than one-fourth will participate in further schooling, according to the 2011 UC Accountability Report.

While the university has been able to survive during these economic times and still produce a fair number of graduates, the CSU and California Community Colleges have been immensely challenged by budget cuts.

According to the report, much of the current problem lies with the community colleges, who currently rank 49th in terms of credential completion compared with other states.

CSU spokesperson Erik Fallis said the financial problems that the state is facing are a result of the priorities of the state, which sometimes puts higher education on the back burner. In recent years, California prisons have received additional funding where public universities could face a 37 percent budget decrease if further cuts are made this year, Fallis said.

Brittany Jahn covers higher education.

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