"With California's public university system shackled to a shrinking budget, a group of chancellors, students and others considers ideas -- from banal to radical -- to keep quality up and costs down."
Why not abolish student fees at the University of California? And in exchange, how about requiring graduates to pay the university a percentage of their income for a while after college?
That may sound outlandish at a time when UC is substantially hiking student fees and the state budget crisis has left the 10-campus system strapped for cash. But that's precisely why UC Berkeley public policy professor Robert Reich raised the idea to a commission trying to chart the university's course into the future.
"We've never been here before, not only the university but the state of California," Reich, a former U.S. Labor Secretary, said in an interview. "So, many ideas that would never before see the light of day are now being examined seriously."
It remains to be seen how seriously UC leaders will examine Reich's proposal, under which more highly paid alumni would, in effect, subsidize others. But it is among the far-reaching, even radical ideas receiving at least a hearing from UC's Commission on the Future, a panel that is studying ways to maintain the university's excellence yet make it more efficient and affordable in an era of shrinking state revenue.
UC Board of Regents Chairman Russell Gould established the 26-member panel last summer and says it is open to all constructive proposals. He serves as its co-chairman, along with UC President Mark G. Yudof.
Why not abolish student fees at the University of California? And in exchange, how about requiring graduates to pay the university a percentage of their income for a while after college?
That may sound outlandish at a time when UC is substantially hiking student fees and the state budget crisis has left the 10-campus system strapped for cash. But that's precisely why UC Berkeley public policy professor Robert Reich raised the idea to a commission trying to chart the university's course into the future.
"We've never been here before, not only the university but the state of California," Reich, a former U.S. Labor Secretary, said in an interview. "So, many ideas that would never before see the light of day are now being examined seriously."
It remains to be seen how seriously UC leaders will examine Reich's proposal, under which more highly paid alumni would, in effect, subsidize others. But it is among the far-reaching, even radical ideas receiving at least a hearing from UC's Commission on the Future, a panel that is studying ways to maintain the university's excellence yet make it more efficient and affordable in an era of shrinking state revenue.
UC Board of Regents Chairman Russell Gould established the 26-member panel last summer and says it is open to all constructive proposals. He serves as its co-chairman, along with UC President Mark G. Yudof.