Newsom’s offer of years of funding hikes to California universities faces criticism

THE CENTERPIECE TO Gov. Gavin Newsom’s higher education budget proposal is coming under scrutiny ahead of negotiations with lawmakers this spring.

In his January budget proposal, the first step in the state’s annual budget process, Newsom revealed a new blueprint for funding California’s two public university systems over the next five years. Under what the governor dubbed “multiyear compacts,” California State University and University of California would receive annual increases of 5 percent to their base funding through 2026-27, with the expectation that the two systems, in exchange, will work toward goals such as improving graduation rates and making college more affordable.