AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A panel of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday rejected a request by a university that said the U.C. Berkeley, a research university in California, should get more money to pay for research and the upkeep of its building.
The Fed also said the $10 billion FFI program could help colleges with some of the cost of recruiting students.
U.C.’s request was rejected because the Fed doesn’t provide direct financial aid to schools.
The Berkeley campus in California.
U.P.E.
S/Associated PressThe Fed panel is made up of four members appointed by the chair and two from the Federal Open Market Committee, the U’s top monetary policymaking body.
The panel voted 3-2 to reject the request from Berkeley.
The FFI Program is a U.K.-based program that provides money to universities to help with research and development.
It provides money for the cost-of-living and research projects of the universities, including the purchase of equipment and supplies, said Alan Garten, chief economist at the U and the chair of the panel.
The program was designed to encourage research and innovation by giving universities more flexibility in recruiting students and providing financial aid for those who want to go into research and engineering.
The U.B. and UCLA campuses each received $2.5 billion in FFI funds in 2017.UBC received $8.7 million and UCLA $4.3 million.
The money could be used for new equipment and research, including in areas such as robotics, computing, biomedical imaging and robotics, said Garten.