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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Regents to Discuss (Not Enact) Possible Future Tuition Increases at May 16 Meeting

Excerpts from the Fresno Bee:

University of California students could face significantly higher tuition if the state doesn't increase funding and voters reject the governor's tax initiative, school administrators said Tuesday.  Under one scenario, the 10-campus system would raise tuition by 6 percent this fall if the state doesn't increase funding by $125 million for 2012-13, according to a document posted online ahead of next week's UC Board of Regents meeting.  The university would need to consider a mid-year tuition increase in the "range of double digits" - or make drastic cuts to campus programs and staffing - if voters don't pass Gov. Jerry Brown's tax plan in November, officials said.

...Board members are scheduled to discuss ways to raise revenue and cut costs when they meet in Sacramento on May 16. No action on tuition is expected until July.

…If UC approves the 6 percent hike, tuition for in-state undergraduates would rise $731 to $12,923, nearly double what students paid five years ago before the financial crisis began. That figure doesn't include room, board or roughly $1,000 in campus fees.


The Regents document to which this article refers is at:
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/may12/f8.pdf



UPDATE: The San Francisco Chronicle has a similar story and notes that the "May Revise" of the governor's budget proposal will be made public on May 14, two days before the Regents meet:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/09/MN421OF6QV.DTL


2 comments:

Bobby Dias said...

Idea- fill the Rose Bowl stadium, or the LA Coliseum with UCLA students and then have the better-than-you UCLA teachers parade round and round with big signs on their front and back saying "I COST YOU $$$$$". Those teachers are always ready to point their figers at somebody else- why not make the teachers show the student that the teachers are a big part of the students' tuition problems?

Anonymous said...

Access, affordability to University is farther and farther out of reach. University of California Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau, Provost Breslauer are leaving an indelible mark on access and affordability to Cal. Both are outspoken on why elite public Cal. should ‘charge Californians much more’ tuition. Number 1 ranked Harvard is now less costly (all in costs). UC Berkeley tuition is rising faster than costs at other universities. The ‘charge more’ tuition policy makes Cal. the most expensive public university!

Birgeneau ($450,000 salary) Breslauer ($306,000 salary) like to blame the politicians, since they stopped giving them every dollar expected. The ‘charge Californians more’ tuition skyrocketed fees by an average 14% per year from 2006 to 2011-12 academic years. If Birgeneau Breslauer had allowed fees to rise at the same rate of inflation over the past 10 years they would still be in reach of most middle income students. Disparities in higher education defeat the promise of equality of opportunity. An unacceptable legacy for students, parents, politicians!

Additional funding should sunset. The economic downturn is devastating California. Simply asking Californians for more money to fund inept Cal. leadership, old expensive higher education models and support burdensome salaries, bonuses, and pensions is not the answer.

UC Berkeley is to maximize access to the widest number of Californians at a reasonable cost: mission of diversity and equality of opportunity. Birgeneau’s Breslauer’s ‘charge Californians more’ tuition denies middle income Californians the transformative value of Cal’s higher education.

Opinions? UC Board of Regents marsha.kelman@ucop.edu Calif. State Senators, Assembly members.