The University of California and the California State University systems would reduce freshman enrollment by 10 percent next year under the budget proposal unveiled Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The proposal also calls for raising undergraduate fees at both systems by 10 percent -- on top of a roughly 40 percent increase imposed since December 2002. The plan reduces financial aid for middle-income students and calls for deep budget cuts to cope with the state's fiscal crisis.

"Were this to come to pass, you would have an institution that was seriously weakened," UC Berkeley public policy professor David Kirp said of his campus. "The state would pay a pretty high cost in human capital and in lost investment in lives. You can't quantify it the way you can quantify the budget deficit."

The proposal calls for increasing community college fees from $18 to $26 a unit, following last year's $7 increase, and charging students who already have a baccalaureate degree $50 a unit.

The most significant higher education policy shift, however, would be Schwarzenegger's proposal to reduce UC's and CSU's enrollment by redirecting 10 percent of the entering freshman class to community colleges for two years.

Many would argue that Schwarzenegger's proposal violates a promise outlined in the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education to guarantee a spot at UC or CSU to all eligible students.

UC would turn away an estimated 3,200 students; CSU, 4,200. That doesn't take into account students who will be turned away because the college-age population is booming. CSU estimates it could end up shutting its doors on more than 20,000 eligible students.

While the governor proposes a net cut to UC for fiscal 2004-05 of $227 million and to CSU of $240 million, the 108 California community colleges would actually receive an increase of $100 million, or 1.8 percent, to accommodate the predicted influx of students who would have gone to UC and CSU.

The governor is calling as well for a reduction in financial aid. He proposes reducing the maximum family income for new Cal Grant recipients by 10 percent. And he would stop increasing Cal Grant awards to match rising UC and CSU fee levels. In addition, UC would reduce from 33 percent to 20 percent the amount of new student fee revenue it directs to financial aid.