President James B. Milliken’s opening remarks at the UC Board of Regents November Meeting on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, as delivered
Thank you, Chair Reilly.
November 8th marked 100 days since I joined the University of California—and it’s been quite a beginning. While my original plans were somewhat thrown off, I have prioritized meeting with as many faculty and students and staff, alumni, and donors as I can. In every part of UC, I have seen that people show up for one another and California. The strength of this University is its people and that’s never been clearer.
And there’s so much that is positive that’s going on at the University of California. We’ll hear a little bit about that soon from some guest presenters. And I hope I don’t have to remind you—I hope we’ve done a good enough job of communicating this broadly: five Nobel Prize winners out of six in the United States this year is a remarkable achievement. Unparalleled.
All of our campuses in the most recent rankings of universities have achieved top rankings, including the number one and number two public universities in America. Just yesterday, I will mention that our host here today, Chancellor Frenk, was awarded an honorary degree from the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere—the University of Mexico, in 1551, one of his alma maters. So congratulations, Chancellor Frenk.
I could go on and on with the very positive things that are happening across UC, but much of my time in the past three months has been consumed with responding to a number of challenges—the federal administration’s numerous investigations and enforcement actions of the University, the suspension of research funding, the demand for a billion dollars plus from California’s taxpayer-supported university, and preserving the critical balance between free speech and campus safety on our 10 campuses.
Today, I want to focus on the serious and compounding financial pressures facing the University of California and how we will meet them.
This is a singular moment for the University and a time of historic uncertainty for all of higher education. We’ve seen peer institutions, including elite private universities with significant resources cut graduate enrollment, shrink or eliminate academic programs, cut student services, enact widespread layoffs. Some of the pressures we are facing at UC are not unique to this University— they reflect shifts affecting universities across the country.
But today, UC is confronting systemic budget challenges due to continuously rising operating costs, state fiscal constraints, and federal actions that directly affect our research mission, our students, our faculty, and our staff.
UC’s been preparing for this—since long before I arrived—and we have taken measures to address the pressures. This includes a systemwide hiring freeze and travel reductions. You’ll hear more today about our work with faculty to find ways to stretch our resources, to take advantage of our scale, and to focus on our core priorities.
But despite these steps, nearly 800 employees have been laid off across UC this year. These are extraordinarily difficult decisions and implemented only as a last resort. We understand the impacts to our workforce have painful consequences for employees and their families. These layoffs reflect the seriousness of the financial pressures we are navigating.
I’m deeply grateful to Governor Newsom and our legislative leaders for their steadfast support of UC and higher education in the state. But the State of California is dealing with its own fiscal challenges. This year, the state faced a significant budget deficit that resulted in nearly $400 million in deferred state funding for the University, including deferrals in our budget compact with the state. Despite the deferrals, campuses exceeded the 2024-25 target under the compact by over 4,000 resident undergraduate FTE.
That means we are enrolling more California students with fewer state dollars, while absorbing a more than $500 million rise in operating costs. To help alleviate some of the immediate pressure, earlier this month we requested a $130 million interest-free loan from the state. We will use those funds for the most critical needs in the months ahead.
As we begin the next budget cycle in January, and the state looks to close a large deficit, our priorities will be clear. We will advocate for a fully funded UC budget, including restoration of the base budget deferral and the compact deferral. These funds are essential to maintaining access and support for California students, for continuing academic excellence, and our research strength.
We will also ask the Regents, today, to extend the Tuition Stability Plan, which has kept tuition predictable for each incoming class for five years, with no further increases after a cohort begins. This is a key component of UC's commitment to affordability and accessibility. Tuition increases are never welcome, but moderate and predictable increases are necessary to sustain the quality of education that our students deserve. The Tuition Stability Plan—developed with broad input, including from students—ensures predictability for families and supports the strong financial aid program that brings a UC education within reach for many. UC is a great engine of social and economic mobility and ensuring affordability is how we deliver on that promise.
As the Chair mentioned—54% of California undergraduates pay no tuition; 64% graduate with no student loans. And our debt across the University for undergraduates is significantly below the national average. Our financial aid programs help students cover rising living expenses, including housing, books, supplies, and other essentials. We’ve taken meaningful steps together to address fiscal challenges, but we still face a difficult road ahead.
On the federal side, between January 20 and October 28, 2025, more than 1,600 grants across the UC system have been impacted. While some have been reinstated, in total, the University of California is still facing a potential loss of more than a billion dollars in federal research funding. Systemwide, more than 400 grants remain suspended or terminated, representing more than $230 million in research activity currently on hold. Dramatic proposed reductions to facilities and administrative recovery will significantly affect each of our campuses. New limits on application submissions for grants and potential additional cuts to research programs that are deemed “outside” the federal administration’s priorities are creating uncertainty for UC’s research mission. Add to that, a lack of understanding of the 1980 Patent Amendments and what they have meant to the explosion of innovation in technology and medicine in this country is a serious problem.
The stakes are enormous. UC’s enterprise of research supports thousands of jobs, drives medical innovation, and produces life-saving and life-changing solutions that benefit everyone. The pressures on our campuses are very real—and the coming months may require even tougher choices across the University.
On the front lines of this are the chancellors, who are engaging with their communities on how to respond to budget reductions and increasing challenges. They will always prioritize the core mission of the University and support those essential programs and initiatives. But they need the tools that we can give them to sustain the quality and the access of the University of California—and that includes, importantly, extending the Tuition Stability Plan.
In the coming months, I’ll share more about our efforts across the University and our ideas for how we will leverage new technologies and resources to help reimagine our work, to drive operational efficiencies, to strengthen our financial position.
But our values will not change. We will continue our focus on academic excellence, on impactful research, on high-quality healthcare, on social and economic mobility, on student success, and preparing our graduates for great careers.
I’m an optimist. And I’m also a student of history—and that history reassures me in difficult moments. Over the course of 157 years, the University of California has always met difficult moments with a spirit of innovation and an unwavering commitment to our mission. We will do so again, together, as we continue to deliver opportunity, to drive discovery, and serve the people of California, and this nation, and the world.
Thank you, Chair Reilly.