UC undergraduate fees decrease by 5 percent
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 27, 1998 9:00 p.m.
Monday, September 28, 1998
UC undergraduate fees decrease by 5 percent
MONEY: Assembly Bill 1318 also lowers CSU, community college
costs
By Dasol Kim
Daily Bruin Contributor
After surviving a staggering 134 percent increase in student
fees earlier this decade, undergraduate college students have been
able to breath easier the past four years, as student fees remained
the same.
However, UC students can expect a 5 percent decrease in tuition
costs this fall.
The passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 1318, the College
Affordability Act of 1997, is responsible for the tuition decrease
for UC undergraduates. This is the first decrease in UC student
fees since 1984. The bill also promises a freeze in student fees in
fall 1999. Through AB 1318, undergraduate tuition costs at all of
the UC schools will be lowered to $3,609 from $3,799, and graduate
and professional student fees will be frozen for the next two
years.
Other parts of the bill include a 5 percent reduction in tuition
fees for undergraduates at all California State Universities and a
$1 cut, from $13 to $12 per unit, at all California community
colleges.
Assemblywoman Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, who wrote the bill,
also introduced a bill that proposes a 5 percent decrease in
tuition costs for graduate and professional students, which is
currently sitting on Gov. Pete Wilson’s desk.
"That bill will do for the graduate students what AB 1318 did
for undergraduate students," said Kevin McCarty, spokesman for
Ducheny.
According to a study published by the California Higher
Education Policy Center in 1997, student debt doubled between 1990
and 1995.
The fees affected in the bill are system-wide fees, which are
set by the State Legislature and are consistent at every UC
school.
Fees paid by students at UC schools are two-fold: system-wide
fees, which are affected by AB 1318, and campus fees, which are
unique to each campus.
According to Carol Sypher, senior strategic planning and program
analyst for the UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget,
system-wide fees are set by the UC Board of Regents. In recent
years, the regents have given their presentation to the legislature
asking to increase fees. However, the state has opted to provide
additional funding in the past few years to the UCs so fee
increases would not be necessary.
"Most students refer to the entire package of fees as the
‘registration fees,’ but that is incorrect," Sypher said.
The registration fee, which specifically funds student services
at UCLA, and the educational fee are two separate fees. Together,
along with selected graduate student fees, these make up the
system-wide fee, Sypher said.
The university registration fees collected from UCLA students go
only to UCLA student programs, not to any other UC school student
programs.
The educational fee helps fund various university programs and
is determined by the UC Office of the President (UCOP).
"(The educational fee is) vitally important for campuses and is
used, for example, for faculty salaries, academic program support
and general uses by the campus," said Rick Malaspina, interim
director of news and communication for UCOP.
"A third of total fees, registration and educational fees goes
back to students in the form of financial aid," he added.
Fees for selected professional school students, such as medical
and business school students, are also imposed by the regents in
order to fund financial aid and to support the quality of academic
programs at professional schools.
The chancellor allocates the funds given by UCOP from the monies
collected through the university-wide fee, and the Student Fee
Advisory Committee (SFAC) advises the chancellor how to spend this
money.
SFAC also advises the chancellor on the institution of new fees
and the revision of existing fees, which are known as campus-based
fees.
Campus-based fees, which must be approved by both the chancellor
and the regents, are only paid by students of that campus.
University-wide fees are paid by students from all nine UC
campuses and are distributed by UCOP, whereas the campus-based fees
are only paid by a single university for university-specific
needs.
These fees may be either compulsory or voluntary. Compulsory
fees may be set or increased after students vote in a referendum.
Following the vote, final approval by the chancellor and the
regents is necessary in order for the fee to be instituted.
Campus-based fees for all students this year increased $3, a
miniscule amount in comparison to the $43.50 surge of last
year.
No other university-wide fees experienced a hike because of AB
1318, except for a $400 increase in non-resident tuition.
"We’re just trying to make college a little more affordable,"
McCarty added.
Related sites:
“¢bull; UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget
“¢bull; University of California Home Page
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