Up to 30,000 new students will be turned away from California State University campuses in the spring, the University of California will delay opening its new Merced campus for a year, and students in both systems will shoulder a 30 percent fee increase.

The state budget, approved by the Legislature this week, slices deeply into higher education with cuts so severe they could threaten the state's mission to provide a top-notch public education to all students who qualify.

The final budget blow, which CSU officials call the largest ever, may prevent some students from being able to afford a university education or even finding a spot at a campus, officials say.

K-12 schools escaped the state's budget battles with relatively less damage, but districts are still facing a tough budget year with more cuts expected next year.

Funding at UC and CSU is failing to keep pace with the growing enrollment demand. The latest budget reduces CSU and UC funding by a total of $755 million this year and calls for no funding for enrollment growth in 2004-05.

As a result, CSU will take only half the additional students it expected to in the coming academic year, preventing up to 30,000 students from enrolling in the spring term. Many of them are likely to be community college students who want to transfer to a four-year campus.

"They will have to wait until the fall when we have normal admissions," said Clara Potes-Fellow, a CSU spokeswoman. "Even then it will become more competitive, because there will be fewer admissions in the fall as well. Students will have to work harder to compete to get into CSU."

To offset the additional cuts, UC President Richard Atkinson boosted student fees Wednesday by 30 percent, instead of the 25 percent adopted by UC regents two weeks ago. Fees will increase by $1,150 a year to $4,984 for undergraduate state residents.

UC also may not admit at least 5,000 UC-eligible students in 2004-05 for the first time since the state master plan for higher education promised a place in UC for all eligible high school graduates 43 years ago.

The Merced campus, originally scheduled to open to 1,000 students in fall 2004, will be delayed until 2005. Construction and planning will continue on the campus.

"We recognize that the challenges facing the Legislature were huge and that compromise was necessary in order to get a budget at all," Atkinson said in a written statement. "But the state's budget situation now very clearly threatens the University of California's historic promise of access and quality."

The fee hikes and enrollment limits could make it hard for some California students to go to college, said Will Doyle, senior policy analyst at the National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education in San Jose.

"California is regarded throughout the country as a leader in providing access to higher education for students, and in terms of what's going on this year, we really seem to be slipping," he said.

The already-strained community colleges could bear much of the burden if CSU and UC deny admittance to qualified students.

The California Postsecondary Education Commission predicts by 2010 there may be insufficient space in the community college system for the equivalent of nearly 313,000 full-time students. CSU may have to turn away 127,000 students and UC 30,770, due to lack of space.

The Contra Costa Community College district will have waiting lists, and some students may not be able to enroll in the classes they need because there won't be enough funding, said John Hendrickson, vice chancellor for finance and administration.

"There will be a great level of frustration with the inability of California to provide for the higher education objectives of residents who are typically able to enroll and find the doors are being closed," he said.

Many K-12 school districts, though spared the most severe cuts, are dipping into reserves to balance their budgets. Per-pupil funding decreased from last year's budget by $180 per student.

However, thanks to a last-minute push by Assembly Republicans, many East Bay school districts -- including San Ramon Valley, Mt. Diablo and Livermore -- would receive their share of $50 million in additional "equalization" funding for districts traditionally paid less than average in per-pupil funding.

"School districts are going to be enduring the deepest cuts they have faced in at least a decade," said Kevin Gordon. "That's unfortunately the good news, because it could have easily been worse."

HIGHLIGHTS

Key points of the 2003-04 education budget approved by the state Legislature this week

CSU and UC

• Reduces funding for University of California and California State University by about 8 percent, a figure that drops to 1.7 percent when fee increases and funding for enrollment growth are considered.

• Cuts general fund budget at UC by $410 million and at CSU by $345 million.

• Adds income of $216 million for UC and $160 million for CSU from 30 percent fee increases.

• Funds 7 percent enrollment growth in 2003-2004, an additional $117 million for UC and $151 million for CSU.

• No increases for enrollment growth or inflation in 2004-05.

• Cuts K-12 outreach programs for UC by 51 percent or $37.7 million and for CSU by 19 percent or $12.6 million.

Community Colleges

• Funding about the same as 2002-03.

• Increases student fees from $11 to $18 per unit.

• Shifts $200 million in 2002-03 program costs to 2004-05 budget.

K-12 Schools

• $41.3 billion total spending under Proposition 98, $288 million less than 2002-03 budget act level.

• Cuts funding per-pupil from $7,067 to $6,887, a $180 drop.

• Increases funding by $1.6 billion for enrollment growth, retirement costs and funding deferrals from previous year.

• Cuts $2 billion to targeted programs such as instructional materials, maintenance, summer school, child care and intervention.

• No cost-of-living increases.

• Shifts $1.2 billion for 2003-04 programs to 2004-05 budget.

• Allows districts to dip into reserves and maintenance funding.

Source: Legislative Analyst's Office