By Associated Press - Thursday, May 18, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on a UC Regents meeting to cap nonresident enrollment and discuss critical audit (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

A top California legislator is disappointed the UC Board of Regents did not talk of repealing a planned tuition increase in the wake of a critical state audit of UC President Janet Napolitano’s office.

House Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who sits on the board, has called for the board to reverse a hike approved in January.

State Auditor Elaine Howle found that Napolitano’s office failed to disclose $175 million in a reserve fund. She also found that the office unduly interfered with a survey sent to individual campuses.

Napolitano says the reserve fund is only $38 million.

The 10-campus system’s Board of Regents raised annual tuition by $282 and increased fees by $54 for the 2017-18 school year.

Napolitano had called the increase modest and a necessity for maintaining the quality of the nation’s largest public university system.

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1:55 p.m.

The UC Board of Regents has approved a proposal to cap out-of-state undergraduate enrollment at 18 percent.

State lawmakers last year held back $18.5 million unless the system adopted a cap.

Four popular campuses that currently exceed the 18 percent cap will be allowed a higher cap pegged to next year’s enrollment. Those campuses include UC Berkeley at 24 percent; UC San Diego and UCLA at 23 percent; and UC Irvine at 19 percent.

The public university system benefits from higher out-of-state tuition but hears complaints from California undergraduates who say they are being squeezed from coveted spots by wealthier nonresidents.

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1:45 p.m.

The UC Board of Regents has taken up a discussion on a proposal to cap out-of-state undergraduate enrollment at 18 percent.

This is a touchy subject for a public university system that benefits from higher out-of-state tuition but hears complaints from California undergraduates who say they are being squeezed from coveted spots by wealthier nonresidents.

State lawmakers last year withheld $18.5 million unless the system adopted a cap.

Four popular campuses that currently exceed the 18 percent cap will be allowed a higher cap pegged to next year’s enrollment. Those campuses include UC Berkeley at 24 percent; UC San Diego and UCLA at 23 percent; and UC Irvine at 19 percent.

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11 a.m.

The UC Board of Regents has vowed to implement recommendations to make the budgeting practices of the president’s office more transparent following a stinging state audit.

But board members also took time Thursday to praise UC President Janet Napolitano, calling her a strong visionary and an asset for the 10-campus University of California.

State Auditor Elaine Howle found that Napolitano’s office failed to disclose to the public and to board members $175 million in a reserve fund. She also found that the office unduly interfered with a survey sent to individual campuses.

Napolitano says the reserve fund is only $38 million.

The state auditor told board members that the audit was not meant to criticize the president’s leadership but to assess the office’s budgeting process. She said the board and office need to set a reserve amount based on clear and transparent policy.

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9:25 a.m.

A UC board meeting to discuss a critical state audit and to consider a cap on nonresident student enrollment is underway.

The UC Board of Regents, which oversees the 10-campus University of California, will consider a proposal Thursday to cap undergraduate out-of-state enrollment at 18 percent.

The board is also meeting to discuss a state audit so scathing that it prompted California Gov. Jerry Brown to withhold $50 million from the UC system’s budget to “hold their feet to the fire.”

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6:00 a.m.

The board of one of the most prestigious public university systems in the country is scheduled to tackle a pair of thorny issues at its regular meeting.

The UC Board of Regents will consider a proposal Thursday to cap undergraduate out-of-state enrollment at 18 percent.

The board, which oversees the 10-campus system, is also meeting to discuss a state audit so scathing that it prompted California Gov. Jerry Brown to withhold $50 million from the UC system’s budget to “hold their feet to the fire.”

State Auditor Elaine Howle is expected to brief the UC Regents Thursday on findings that UC administrators hid $175 million in a secret reserve fund and that the president’s office interfered with the audit process.

UC President Janet Napolitano denied her office improperly stashed money.

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