The governor’s budget has left UC administrators with a very tough choice: They must pick between expanded university access for prospective students and increased summer services for current students.

Included in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget is money to bring just 3,500 new students to UC campuses — not the originally proposed 5,000. To make matters worse, that money will bring in even fewer students if the university proceeds with its plan to add full summer school quarters at the four remaining campuses without them.

If the university moves ahead with an expanded summer program at UCSD, state funding for the program would be deducted from the money for enrollment growth offered in the budget.

Clearly, university access for qualified students should take priority over increased university operations. Even if all the appropriated money for enrollment growth is used to pay for new students, the student population would only return to its 2003 levels, so diverting these funds for summer instruction would be irresponsible.

With the state facing such dire financial challenges, now is not the time to invest these precious few dollars in new programs.