MESA budget update

For the fourth year in a row, state funding for MESA was reinstated at the last minute in the final California budget.

Last January the governor eliminated funds for MESA and other UC Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships (SAPEP) programs in his proposed state budget for 2007-08. However, the legislature voted to reallocate these funds in the final budget which was signed into law by the governor in mid-August.

The state monies, coupled with funding from UC, means that MESA will receive $5.14 million, approximately the same amount the program has received since the 2003–04 budget.

The budget for MESA’s community college program, which receives its funding from an allocation through the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, will remain the same at $2.4 million. This funding also has remained virtually unchanged since 2003–04.

In 2002–03, MESA funding was cut by over 50 percent. Since then, the program’s funds have been eliminated by the governor in his January budget, then reinstated by the legislature in the final budget.

“It’s been difficult for MESA to focus on its mission when every year we have to stop part of our work to fight for funding,” said MESA Executive Director Oscar Porter. “While I’m glad that we will receive our funding, the amount means we’ll have to struggle to maintain a top-quality program in 2008 with a 2003 budget,” he said. 

“We suffered a tremendous loss when our budget was cut in half. Although we’ve managed to leverage our funds to obtain an additional $6 million in contributions this past year, the contributions don’t replace the stability of state funding,” said Porter.

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