Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his pact with state higher education leaders Tuesday with the confidence of a man who had fixed another problem - only to see his solution met with scorn by the very people he says will benefit.

The governor called the deal "acceptable to everyone," while students, faculty and Democratic lawmakers denounced it as a "sellout" and "betrayal" by University of California President Robert Dynes and California State University Chancellor Charles Reed.

In exchange for Schwarzenegger's pledge that the state will be more generous to the two university systems starting next year, Dynes and Reed agreed to swallow nearly $700 million in one-time cuts this year.

Under the accord, fees would rise for the foreseeable future, with Dynes and Reed committed to push for a 14 percent fee increase for undergraduate students starting this fall, followed by 8 percent increases in the next two years.

Graduate fees would go up 20 percent to 25 percent for the fall - a break from the 40 percent hike in a single year originally proposed by Schwarzenegger and again by at least 10 percent in each of the next two years.

For his part, Schwarzenegger vowed to boost UC and CSU's base budgets by at least 3 percent through 2011 and back away from strict enrollment limits by providing funding for 5,000 new students for UC and 8,000 for CSU starting in 2005.

The governing boards of both college systems will vote on the proposed increases next week.

For Sacramento mother Louise Mueller, the compact sounded like little more than a promise of a bigger hit to the family's finances over the next several years. Mueller, a counselor at American River College, will be paying for two children to attend UC campuses this fall - a tab she expects will run about $30,000 next year.

"And I guess we can count on that going up," Mueller said. "We can refinance our house and use what little we have saved for their college, but I think that some consideration needs to be given for the average people like us.

"Hopefully, whatever we pay, this will be the best investment we've ever made."

While Schwarzenegger pledges to beef up UC and CSU budgets and restore money for enrollment growth next year, the compact does nothing to secure funds for this fall that would provide slots to the more than 11,000 qualified freshman applicants who were rejected by both systems.

Offers for those students to instead attend community college and transfer to UC and CSU as juniors will stand.

Dynes and Reed, who are coping with the third straight year of dramatic spending cuts, called the "compact" a victory, and said it would ensure that UC and CSU could return to serving all eligible students by the fall of 2005.

UC and CSU students on Tuesday begged to differ.

"We've seen these compacts before. They can be abandoned as quickly as they are made," said Peter Ucovich, president of the Associated Students at California State University, Sacramento.

"And the worst part is that this compact says not only are your fees going to go up, they are going to go up forever."

Said Matthew Kaczmarek, a UCLA student and chairman of the University of California Students Association: "We are extremely troubled that the \[UC\] administration gave up the fight before it was over. The only individuals who may find this acceptable are those who negotiated behind closed doors without faculty, most administrators and most of the all, the students."

University faculty also condemned the compact, criticizing Dynes and Reed for striking a deal without consulting the rank and file members of the college community.

"If we had been consulted, we would have said this is a bad deal," said John Travis, a professor at Humboldt State University and president of the California Faculty Association, CSU's faculty union.

"The chancellor does not speak for all of us. If they think this agreement will end our protests, they are wrong."

Democratic lawmakers - who will ultimately have to approve any such accord - declared the agreement dead on arrival and said that Dynes and Reed had agreed to a deal that unravels the state's 40-year-old Master Plan for Higher Education.

That plan states that California will provide a quality, affordable higher education to any qualified high school graduate.

Democrats were particularly indignant that Dynes and Reed didn't push Schwarzenegger to relent on his directive that the freshman class be shrunk by 10 percent this fall. More than 11,000 qualified applicants were turned down by UC and CSU.

"If your child was born in 1986, tough," said Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, referring to the qualified freshman applicants that were denied admission for the fall. "It's the fickle finger of fate."

Students, faculty and Democrats were also skeptical of the governor's pledge to restore some state funding to outreach programs that he deems "effective."

Schwarzenegger did not specify which outreach programs - which help prepare poor and disadvantaged students for college - would get his support.