The University of California Board of Trustees has recently discussed raising tuition costs at University of California campuses.
Hundreds of displeased students stood outside the panel of the University of California Board of Trustees meeting as they discussed raising university tuition costs. Police and officials had to shove their way through the crowd of students who barricaded the building doors.
If the plan to raise tuition costs becomes finalized, undergraduate tuition and fees would rise roughly $3,000 per semester. After four hours of discussion the board voted 7 to 2 to approve the increase. There are to be more debates and votes expected before the decision is finalized, but based off of the resulted votes by the Board of Regents it is shown that the UC tuition increase are likely to pass.
If this tuition increase were to come into play, the increase will be applied to University of California campuses only. California State Universities, and more specifically Sonoma State, will not undergo a tuition increase anytime soon.
“Not at this time or for the next couple of years,” said Sonoma State President Ruben Armiñana about the UC tuition increase.
The UC system has more leverage compared with CSU’s in terms of tuition increase, due to the fact that the UC’s have their charter granted to them by the California Constitution.
“There has been no formal discussion to increase tuition fees next year in 2015-16,” said Stephanie Thara, CSU public affairs communications specialist. “Please note that this year [2014-15] marks the third consecutive year that tuition fee rates have remained at the same level.”
The potential UC tuition increase is not a one-time increase, but rather a steady increase spread out over time. It would consist of a 5 percent increase of tuition that would last for the next five years and if it’s approved, the increase will begin next fall.
This is proposed by the UC system and is officially decided by California legislature soon. The UC system believes that this increase will bring in roughly an additional $100 million each year. Tuition increase allow upgrades to be made in technology, repair damages on campuses and help to enroll around 5,000 more California students which will then allow UC campuses to hire more faculty members. Keeping in mind that only 30 percent of undergraduates pay full tuition, one third of this increase would go towards the financial aid of low-income students at University of California colleges.
Though this increase has its benefits it also has some drawbacks.
“Well there are a couple things to consider with the Senate proposal currently. One it calls for an increase of out of state tuition for UC students and most individuals at UCs are out of state,” said Associated Students President Anthony Gallino. “Also they want to disband the middle class scholarship and use those saving to create a grant system to pay students who get out in a more timely manner.”
Out-of-state UC students are currently paying roughly $35,000 for tuition and if this increase were to occur, such increases would lead to a near total tuition cost of $45,000.
