Campus News
Budget update: Campus making significant progress
Campus leaders are focused on increasing revenues, controlling expenditures, and planning for the long-term success of the campus.
UC Santa Cruz continues to make significant gains in closing its budget gap and strengthening its financial position.
Campus leaders are focused on increasing revenues, controlling expenditures, and planning for the long-term success of the campus.
Through the development of the FY26–27 budget, UC Santa Cruz is now about two-thirds of the way to eliminating the structural core funds deficit. The campus achieved $26 million in ongoing savings, bringing the three-year savings total to $99 million.
For fiscal year 2026-27, UC Santa Cruz is operating a $1.08 billion budget and managing a remaining $53 million core funds deficit.
The Office of Budget Analysis and Planning recently released the 2026-27 budget overview, offering additional details on the current operating budget.
“By focusing on our core mission and values, while pursuing the areas where we have real potential for growth, we’ll emerge as a stronger university,” said Amber Blakeslee, associate vice chancellor of Budget Analysis and Planning.
The campus is guided by principles that keep the mission of teaching, research, and public service at the forefront, while prioritizing realistic revenue opportunities, sharing regular budget updates, and ensuring a student-focused, people-centered approach.
UC Santa Cruz, like other universities across the country, is navigating a dynamic budget environment, with reduced federal funding and increasing costs, particularly in salaries and benefits.
UC Santa Cruz has formed a new advisory group made up of faculty, staff, and students to gather ideas and feedback about what’s best for the university as it works to increase revenue and reduce spending.
The newly constituted Budget Advisory Committee (BAC-II) is meeting to provide advice and make recommendations to the chancellor and campus provost and executive vice chancellor on various campus budget issues. Following review and analysis, recommendations ready to move forward will be shared for Academic Senate consultation.
The UC Santa Cruz community will need to continue to work together to achieve the outcomes that will put the campus on more sound financial footing. Making these reductions and maintaining the discipline to follow through will be challenging, but the campus has already shown it can make steady, intentional progress. In addition to recently releasing the 2026-27 budget, the 2025-26 core funds year-end report has also been published highlighting core funds budget to actuals performance over the previous year.
More information and regular updates are available on the Budget, Planning and Analysis website.