The public higher education systems have received significant budget cuts in the 2009-10 fiscal year, with the University of California (UC) receiving $813 million less than in 2007-08, California State University (CSU) receiving $625 million less, and the community college system receiving $812 million less. It is important to understand the effects of the budget cuts and the need to restore public funding to at least 2007-08 levels to maintain the quality of and access to higher education. This paper examines the perspectives, the strategies, and the fallouts of these three universities in addressing budget cuts. It showed that the budget cuts affect public higher education in all areas, not just student access and affordability. Therefore, it is important to address the issues listed at the beginning of this paper to develop a better understanding of the impacts on students and the higher education systems in California.