Dear Campus Community,

On Wednesday, May 14, the governor released the May Revision to his proposed 2025-26 California State Budget, projecting a $16.5 billion shortfall in state revenue over the next two fiscal years.

While the overall budget outlook remains sobering, the May Revision delivered unexpectedly good news for higher education — particularly for the California State University (CSU) system.

In January, the governor proposed a 7.95% reduction to the CSU’s base budget, amounting to $375 million. That proposed cut has now been scaled back to 3%, or approximately $144 million — a significant improvement and a reflection of the sustained advocacy by CSU leaders, students, employees, alumni, and other stakeholders.

Here at The Beach, we are studying likely campus impacts. While the budget process is not over, this revision translates to a reduction in our projected general fund cut from $28 million to $11.5 million. This improved position is further bolstered by the restoration of a one-time $6.4 million reduction from the 2024-25 budget and $17.8 million in new revenue from the tuition rate increase previously approved by the CSU Board of Trustees. Combined, these adjustments represent a net increase of $12.6 million in available resources.

As a result, we are currently positioned to cover our known mandatory cost increases — estimated at $12.3 million for the 2025-26 budget year — without implementing the $15 million in divisional budget cuts that had been planned. While fiscal pressures persist, this development allows us to move forward with a flat budget and avoid reductions that would have affected core operations.

The next step is for the legislature to approve the final state budget and for the governor to sign it into law by the end of June. We expect to receive our final campus budget allocation from the CSU Chancellor’s Office by mid-July.

In the meantime, we will continue refining our revenue and expenditure projections and engage in coordinated advocacy across the system, urging lawmakers to fund the full higher education compact and eliminate the proposed 3% reduction to the CSU base budget.