Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget would cut deeply into education, making it much more difficult for students to get into state universities such as Cal State Long Beach, university officials said Monday.

Of Brown’s $12.5 billion in proposed cuts, $1 billion would come from the budgets of the California State University and University of California systems.

"The severity of this reduction will have serious and negative impacts on students both currently enrolled and those seeking admission," said Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander. "Ultimately, however, it will damage California's economy and future economic growth, which will impact all citizens of the state."

The proposal would take away 18 percent of the California State University System’s budget, Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the Long Beach-based CSU system told City News Service. According to Reed, the last time the budget was that low, was in 1999-2000 when there were 70,000 fewer students in the system.

Noting that tuition payments made by University of California students would be more than the state’s contribution to the system’s operating budget, UC President Mark Yudof called the proposed budget "a sad day for California.''

 However, Brown called the cuts necessary.

"These cuts will be painful, requiring sacrifice from every sector of the state, but we have no choice,'' Brown said in introducing his budget proposal. "For 10 years, we've had budget gimmicks and tricks that pushed us deep into debt. We must now return California to fiscal responsibility and get our state on the road to economic recovery and job growth.''

The proposed budget cuts do not impact elementary and high school education.

City News Services contributed to this report.