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In a rare action against a top administrator, UCLA on Tuesday fired its chief financial officer after officials said he inaccurately described the campus deficit, which has come under scrutiny by faculty leaders amid growing operation costs, attacks by the Trump administration and weaker-than-promised state funding.
Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Agostini, who had overseen UCLA’s $11-billion budget since May 2024, “will no longer serve in his role, effective immediately,” Chancellor Julio Frenk wrote in a brief campuswide message, announcing an interim appointment and a national search for a replacement.
The abrupt change came days after Agostini gave an interview to the Daily Bruin student newspaper saying the campus had “financial management flaws and failures” predating his arrival, leading to what he said was a $425-million deficit. In the interview, Agostini blamed financial woes on faculty and staff raises, academic departments’ requests for new positions and expanded programs, and UCLA athletics, which has run in the red for multiple years.
Agostini suggested that UCLA’s annual financial reports going back to 2002 were incorrect, saying he saw “very serious errors” — a charge UCLA officials deny. UCLA’s last posted financial report covers the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Agostini did not respond to requests for comment from The Times.
In his campus letter, Frenk did not state a reason for Agostini’s dismissal.
A source with knowledge of the situation told The Times that the firing was tied to Agostini’s public statements regarding the budget and long-term financial management, which were made without Frenk’s approval. The person asked to have their name withheld because they were not authorized to speak to the media about administrative matters.
In a separate statement, Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, dismissed Agostini’s comments directly.
“Recent claims of a projected $425-million deficit for UCLA’s fiscal year 2025–26 are inaccurate,” Osako said. “The figure includes funds that are not committed for expenditure, including items that have been proposed or discussed but not approved. As such, it does not represent the university’s projected operating deficit.”
Osako said the deficit was “substantially lower,” but did not say by how much. A UCLA spokesperson on Tuesday also declined to release a deficit number.
Osako said budget challenges were caused not by academic programs but instead “reflect broader institutional and external factors affecting higher education.”
“The university’s financial strategy has evolved under successive campus leaders in response to changing economic conditions, state funding levels and operational priorities,” she said. Also, “in spite of current strains, UCLA has the financial strength to maintain its excellence while adapting to new financial realities and opportunities.”
She also said allegations suggesting long-term financial mismanagement were incorrect. “Chancellor Frenk is confident in the integrity of UCLA’s leadership, past and present, and their financial oversight and decision-making processes. Statements suggesting otherwise are unfounded and do not reflect his or UCLA’s position.”
Financial challenges are common at U.S. universities, which have grappled with shifting enrollment, rising costs and funding pressures as well as lingering effects of pandemic-era financial declines. Harvard, which has faced major federal funding clawbacks since last year, recently said it has a $113-million deficit. UC Santa Cruz — where the operating budget is a fraction of UCLA’s — recently reported a $95-million deficit.
UCLA leaders say the university is facing increasing costs and unpredictable state and federal support — including $584 million in federal research grant suspensions from the Trump administration that are currently blocked in court. The UC initiated a systemwide freeze on most hires last year and UCLA has made several cuts since then.
At UCLA, changes include layoffs at the extension school, and reduced courseloads or a lack of contract renewals among some part-time faculty. The cuts are not uniform, with areas of the campus scaling back in different ways. Last year, the math department reported cutting paid graders and instituting reduced hours for teaching assistants. Lower-enrollment and less commonly taught foreign-language courses have also faced reductions. Faculty in other departments said their travel and conference budgets were reduced.
UCLA, which is preparing to host the Olympic Village in 2028 and has invested tens of millions into athletics since joining the Big Ten, has also faced internal criticism for heavy spending on sports programs that have run in the red.
A UCLA Academic Senate report released last month called for a “phased plan toward break-even or substantially reduced subsidy” for university money funneled toward athletics. The senate represents thousands of faculty members.
Overall, the report said there was “incomplete data” and “major gaps in transparency” over financial matters.
Speaking Tuesday, Megan McEvoy, a professor in the Institute for Society and Genetics who chairs the Academic Senate, said she was, “heartened that Chancellor Frenk took seriously the ongoing and serious concerns raised on campus about the now-former CFO.”
But McEvoy said she and her colleagues still had questions.
“Senate faculty need full, trustworthy accounting of decisions and policies that caused the current campus budget deficit,” she said. “Without accountability, we are concerned that the administration may repeat the same sort of decisions that led to the deficit. Senate faculty want to understand how the administration will balance the budget in ways that preserve the academic mission. The recent allegation that we can’t trust prior financial statements is worrisome, if true.”
Anna Markowitz, president of the UCLA Faculty Assn. — an independent campus group that sued the Trump administration over its $1.2-billion UCLA settlement demand — said she had similar concerns.
“We want to know how much money has been paid to subsidize athletics; on policing costs that have no clear goals or accountability structures; on real estate purchases; administrative consultants; and for high-level leadership who did not take action last year when our school was under grave threat,” said Markowitz, an associate professor in UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies.
UCLA is not the only Southern California campus to face financial hurdles. Last year, USC laid off roughly 1,000 employees as it faced down a $230-million deficit. Speaking to The Times this month, USC President Beong-Soo Kim said the university was in a “much stronger financial position now” and that he was “optimistic” about its financial outlook.
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Jaweed Kaleem
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