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| − | The '''University of California at Berkeley''' was founded in 1868 and is located in [[Berkeley]], [[California]]. UC Berkeley is the head campus of the [[University of California]] system, and is widely regarded by biased [[liberal]] sources as one of the top universities in the world, despite [[atheism]] and [[socialism]] that is promoted by some members of its staff{{Citation needed}}, is known as ''California'' or ''Cal'' in the sports sections of [[newspaper]]s. | + | The '''University of California, Berkeley''' (also referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, or simply Cal), is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, on the hills above the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay. Berkeley was established in 1868 through the merger of the private College of California and the public Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in Oakland, and Berkeley is the oldest institution in the UC system. UC Berkeley is the head campus of the [[University of California]] system. |
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| | + | Berkeley has 1,580 fulltime and 597 part-time faculty members dispersed among more than 350 degree programs. The student-to-faculty ratio is 17 to 1.<ref name=facts>{{cite web|url=http://www.berkeley.edu/about/fact.shtml|title=Facts at a glance|accessdate=March 21, 2014}}</ref> |
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| | == History == | | == History == |
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| | In the 1930s research on campus burgeoned in nuclear physics, chemistry, and biology, leading to the development of the first cyclotron by Ernest O. Lawrence, the isolation of the human polio virus, and the discovery of a string of elements heavier than uranium. Twenty members of the Berkeley faculty have been awarded Nobel Prizes for these and subsequent discoveries, as well as in literature and economics, for liberal arts kept pace with physical sciences. In 1966 Berkeley was recognized by the American Council on Education as "the best balanced distinguished university in the country." [http://www.berkeley.edu/about/history/] | | In the 1930s research on campus burgeoned in nuclear physics, chemistry, and biology, leading to the development of the first cyclotron by Ernest O. Lawrence, the isolation of the human polio virus, and the discovery of a string of elements heavier than uranium. Twenty members of the Berkeley faculty have been awarded Nobel Prizes for these and subsequent discoveries, as well as in literature and economics, for liberal arts kept pace with physical sciences. In 1966 Berkeley was recognized by the American Council on Education as "the best balanced distinguished university in the country." [http://www.berkeley.edu/about/history/] |
| | In the 1960's UCB was the epicenter of the California [[counter culture]] movement. [[Ronald Reagan]] admonished the schools lack of morals and proper conduct in a 1966 speech when he was campaigning for governor of [[California]].<ref>http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/06/08_reagan.shtml</ref> Today the school is currently the highest ranked [[public university]] in the country, but the fact that despite its massive influx of state [[government]] money it consistently is outperformed by private schools like its rival [[Stanford]] is considered by many education experts to be definitive proof of the supremacy of [[private education]]. | | In the 1960's UCB was the epicenter of the California [[counter culture]] movement. [[Ronald Reagan]] admonished the schools lack of morals and proper conduct in a 1966 speech when he was campaigning for governor of [[California]].<ref>http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/06/08_reagan.shtml</ref> Today the school is currently the highest ranked [[public university]] in the country, but the fact that despite its massive influx of state [[government]] money it consistently is outperformed by private schools like its rival [[Stanford]] is considered by many education experts to be definitive proof of the supremacy of [[private education]]. |
| | + | ==Finances== |
| | + | After the state legislature in 2011 slashed $650 million from the University of California system's previously $3-billion budget, tuition at UC schools rose 17% for in-state students and 5% for nonresident ones, prompting student protests and sit-ins on the Berkeley campus. With California already leading the nation in tuition increases, the UC system has said that annual tuition spikes could range from 8% to 16% over the next four years.<ref name=wsj>{{cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304432704577350214257041598|title=Cal's Football-Stadium Gamble |work=Wall Street Journal|date=April 20, 2012|accessdate=March 21, 2014}}</ref> The Berkeley campus budget for 2012-13 was $2.16 billion.<ref name=facts/> |
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| | + | Berkeley controversially borrowed $445 million to fund a $321 million renovation its seismically unsafe football stadium and construction of a new $153 million student athletic center,<ref name=wsj/><ref name=debt>{{cite news|title=Cal scrambling to cover stadium bill|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Cal-scrambling-to-cover-stadium-bill-4604221.php?t=7903d5abac47b02379|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=June 16, 2013|accessdate=March 22, 2014}}</ref> both of which opened in 2012. Fundraising for the project fell far short of expectations.<ref name=wsj/> |
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| | + | In 2014, Moody's downgraded Berkeley's bond rating from from Aa1 to Aa2.<ref name=forbes>{{cite news|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshfreedman/2014/03/19/the-hidden-college-problem-when-universities-like-students-take-on-debt/|title=The Hidden College Problem: When Universities, Not Just Students, Take On Debt|first=Josh|last=Freedman|work=Forbes|date=March 19, 2014|accessdate=March 21, 2014}}</ref> However, Berkeley was able to save $1 billion in borrowing costs by refinacing its debt.<ref name=forbes/> |
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| | == Liberal bias == | | == Liberal bias == |