UPDATE: Shortly after this story was published on Feb. 17, UCLA fired CFO Stephen Agostini, according to a UCLA spokesperson. In an emailed statement to CFO.com, UCLA Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications Mary Osako said recent public references to a $425 million deficit are inaccurate, noting the figure includes proposed or unapproved spending and does not reflect the university’s projected operating shortfall.
Osako said UCLA’s financial pressures stem from broader institutional and external factors and emphasized that campus leadership remains confident in its financial oversight. She added that the university is pursuing new revenue opportunities while focusing on operational efficiency and disciplined cost management.
UCLA declined a follow-up interview.
Agostini couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
University of California, Los Angeles, one of the state’s largest public universities and often one of the most applied-to colleges in the U.S., has its CFO warning of mounting financial strain as reporting failures, a stalled modernization effort and rising costs drive a projected $425 million deficit in the fiscal year 2025-2026 and nearly $900 million in potential shortfalls over the next two years.
Stephen Agostini, who became UCLA’s finance chief in April 2024, told the college’s student newspaper that the university is reassessing governance, spending practices and technology investments after identifying accounting and operational challenges across the institution. He said stabilizing UCLA’s finances will require tighter oversight of technology spending, compensation growth and academic operations.
Poor reporting practices trigger UCLA’s financial reset
One of Agostini’s first major decisions was halting publication of UCLA’s longstanding annual financial reports after determining that the unaudited documents contained significant errors in how financial information was presented.
The reports had been posted publicly for more than two decades and served as a key reference point for stakeholders seeking insight into the university’s financial position. UCLA has since added disclosures clarifying the reports’ unaudited status, and updated materials are expected following review by the University of California Office of the President.
The shift reflects a broader effort to strengthen governance and restore confidence in financial reporting. Universities face growing pressure from boards, regulators and the public to maintain accurate disclosures as operating environments grow more complex. Agostini said his office is prioritizing improved financial management practices and clearer communication with stakeholders as part of a wider reset of the finance function.
Across higher education, reporting challenges have increasingly shaped leadership transitions and institutional strategy. In July 2025, the soon-to-be shuttered Siena Heights University detailed allegations from a former finance chief tied to accounting concerns during a period of financial instability. And in March 2025, Oklahoma State University’s audit findings revealed restricted funds had been improperly categorized and transferred, prompting executive changes and renewed oversight.
A stalled ERP initiative highlights further governance challenges
The reassessment of financial reporting coincided with a deeper review of UCLA’s technology investments, including the Ascend Finance Transformation Project, an initiative designed to migrate financial operations to Oracle Cloud and modernize data systems across campus.
The project consumed more than $150 million before being paused, according to Agostini, who publicly said the university has “nothing to show for it.” Leadership has since formed an executive committee to evaluate next steps for the university’s aging financial infrastructure.
ERP modernization efforts influence budgeting visibility, reporting workflows and internal controls, making them closely tied to governance outcomes. At UCLA, the stalled initiative became an early indicator that leadership would revisit how large-scale investments are monitored and aligned with institutional priorities. Finance leaders across industries have encountered similar challenges as transformation projects expand in scope and require sustained coordination between finance, IT and operational teams.
Universities pursuing modernization often navigate complex funding structures and decentralized decision-making, which can affect implementation timelines and outcomes. UCLA’s review of the Ascend project now sits within a wider effort to stabilize finances while maintaining the infrastructure needed for long-term growth.
Structural deficits, compensation growth and athletics
UCLA’s most immediate financial challenge remains its structural deficit, driven largely by expense growth that has exceeded revenue expansion for nearly a decade.
Financial data described by Agostini indicates the university’s near half a billion dollar shortfall this year is due to rising compensation costs, expanded academic operations and continued funding pressures across academic and athletic departments. Increases particularly across academic and administrative roles, a common issue plaguing colleges and public school systems across America, have added hundreds of millions of dollars to the university’s expenses since 2020. According to Agostini, roughly three-quarters of academic units are operating at a deficit right now.
Additional funding requests tied to hiring, program expansion and restoration of previous cuts continue to place pressure on the budget. UCLA has introduced hiring reviews and adjustments to spending priorities while evaluating potential revenue opportunities, including enrollment growth and more strategic use of investment income. Agostini said balancing the budget remains the central objective for the finance office.
Athletics represents another significant component of the university’s financial picture. UCLA’s sports programs run annual deficits of at least $80 million, according to Agostini.
The university’s move to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024 is widely viewed as an effort to strengthen long-term athletics revenue through expanded media rights distributions and increased national exposure. However, the shift also introduces much higher travel, operating and conference alignment costs along with new investments in student-athlete resources and financial commitments tied to conference realignment.
The developments place UCLA within a broader pattern of scrutiny across higher education finance leadership. In June 2025, Florida A&M, a much smaller college based in the Sunshine State, faced criticism from state officials over systemic audit failures that the CFO there failed to address. Regardless of size, this growing trend of mismanagement of money in higher education — much of it coming from public dollars — underscores how governance expectations continue to shape the role of university CFOs.
