When University of California, Los Angeles CFO Stephen Agostini publicly disclosed a projected $425 million deficit, questioned the accuracy of two decades of financial reports and called a nine-figure modernization effort a waste of resources, he triggered a governance crisis that cost him his job.
Shortly after the Daily Bruin published Agostini’s interview, CFO.com picked up the story, only to have UCLA share via email through a spokesperson that he had been fired because of his “inaccurate” statements.
Chancellor Julio Frenk later announced in a campus-wide message that Agostini “will no longer serve in his role, effective immediately.” Reem Hanna-Harwell, senior associate dean for finance and administration in the UCLA College, was named interim vice chancellor and CFO while a new candidate is pursued.
Agostini had projected a $425 million shortfall in fiscal 2025-26 and nearly $900 million in potential deficits over two years, which he pinned on compensation growth, academic expansion and athletics subsidies. He described it as part of longstanding financial management issues.
In a statement provided to CFO.com, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications Mary Osako said the amount includes funds “that are not committed for expenditure, including items that have been proposed or discussed but not approved,” and therefore does not represent the university’s projected operating deficit. She described the actual shortfall as “substantially lower,” though the university declined to provide a revised number.
Financial challenges have become increasingly common across higher education as institutions grapple with rising costs and state and federal funding fluctuations. Recent scrutiny has also surfaced at institutions like Florida A&M University and soon-to-be-closed Siena Heights University, as well as larger ones like Ohio State University, Penn State and Oklahoma State University, among many others, where financial oversight and deficit concerns have prompted internal reviews, major cuts, leadership changes or public debate.
Modernization spending and reporting questions
Agostini’s remarks also drew renewed attention to the university’s stalled finance modernization effort.
He told the Daily Bruin that the Ascend Finance Transformation Project had cost roughly $150 million before being halted and described the initiative as wasteful. Separate higher education reporting cited modernization costs exceeding $213 million. UCLA has not publicly reconciled the difference between those figures.
In the same interview, Agostini said that unaudited annual financial reports posted online since 2002 contained significant inaccuracies. UCLA officials have denied allegations of systemic financial mismanagement and said updated financial materials are under review.
UCLA, one of the largest public colleges in California and one of the most applied-to colleges in the world, oversees an approximately $11 billion annual budget and has implemented hiring reviews and spending adjustments amid funding volatility and rising operating costs.
An interim report released Jan. 29 by UCLA’s Academic Senate Council on Planning and Budget estimated that the campus structural deficit now approaches $400 million annually, based on data presented by campus leadership. The council’s review of budget data for 42 campus units — including academic divisions, central administration and operational units — suggested that only around $15 million of the FY25 General Funds deficit was attributable to those units.
Notably, there has been recent disagreement among UCLA leadership on size, transparency gaps and around how deficits are calculated. The report says the bulk of the remaining recurring shortfalls appear concentrated in central commitments, operational cost escalations and athletics subsidies. It also said data was not provided for several high-impact areas, including athletics and certain Chancellor’s units, and that incomplete information limits a full reconciliation of the campus-wide deficit.
Additional details emerge on athletics support
In the days following Agostini’s departure, more information surfaced about UCLA’s athletics funding and subsidies.
Agostini previously told the Daily Bruin that UCLA athletics runs annual deficits of at least $80 million per year. The Los Angeles Times and the New York Post reported that the department accumulated a combined $241.1 million deficit over the past seven fiscal years before the university eliminated that debt and provided $30 million in direct institutional support in each of the last two fiscal years, bringing the balance to zero.
UCLA’s 2024 move to the Big Ten Conference has been positioned as a long-term revenue strategy tied to expanded media rights distributions and national exposure, but has come with high recurring costs.
Under an agreement approved by a University of California Board of Regents panel, UCLA is paying the University of California, Berkeley “calimony payments” of $10 million per year for at least three years to offset financial impacts tied to the dissolution of the Pac-12 Conference. The payments will run through at least the 2026-27 academic year and are subject to review after three years.
UCLA is reportedly expected to receive roughly $60 million annually in Big Ten distributions. The conference shift also introduces higher travel expenses, scheduling adjustments across multiple sports and additional operational investments associated with conference realignment. Those obligations are likely driving the spending and have been layered onto an athletics program that has required major institutional support.
