A University of California home-loan program that was designed to help recruit new professors has evolved into a lucrative perk for hundreds of longtime employees, some of whom have used its low-cost loans for purposes like luxury renovations or buying out an ex-spouse’s equity, The Sacramento Bee reported. The scope of the program, which offers interest rates as low as 3 percent, is unrivaled by any public or private university housing program in the country, the newspaper said.

Since the program started, about 20 percent of the loan fund has been used to retain rather than recruit employees, representing more than $200-million in loans, the Bee reported. University officials say the program pays for itself and costs taxpayers nothing. Still, State Sen. Jack Scott, a Democrat who is chairman of the Senate’s education committee, has expressed concerns about the program’s expansion. Senator Scott said he did not know about the loan program last February, when his committee grilled top university officials about how the system rewards its senior executives, but now he wants a fuller explanation. “We made it very clear that we expected reform,” he said. “If we don’t get reform, then we will have additional hearings, and we’ll bring this all to light.”

University officials said that they were not aware of anyone exploiting the program and that they have put in place a “new and more rigorous” review process.