California State University System
Budget Allocation Process
The California State University System is responsible for developing a budget request on behalf of the twenty-three campuses.
The CSU (and State of California) practices incremental budgeting: year-to-year changes in the campus operating budgets result from increases or decreases in the funding authorized by the State. The focus of the CSU’s budget process is on predicting the changes from the current year and allocating resources to meet the priorities of the Board of Trustees. The Higher Education Compact is a critical planning element for the CSU, which establishes the parameters for future year funding increments. Such details are contained in the CSU Support Budget documents:
The CSU Support Budget is approved by the Board of Trustees at its November meeting.
The CSU generally funds increments in the following categories:
- ENROLLMENT GROWTH
- FINANCIAL AID (33% set aside of State University Fee)
- MANDATORY COSTS
- COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
- NEW SPACE
- LONG TERM NEEDS
- SPECIAL INITIATIVE
All CSU system documents may be found on the CSU Budget Office website: http://www.calstate.edu/budget/