UC Board of Regents approves a 9.6 percent tuition increase for 2011-2012
By Andra Lim
July 14, 2011 6:01 p.m.
San Francisco “”mdash; UC students are looking at a double-digit tuition hike this fall after the latest action taken today by the UC Board of Regents at its bimonthly meeting at UC San Francisco.
The regents voted 14-4 to approve an increase of 9.6 percent on top of the 8 percent hike approved in November ““ a total increase of 17.6 percent. California families who make more than $120,000 annually will now pay $12,192 in tuition.
No other alternatives exist to shore up a $650 million cut handed down from the state to the UC this year, several regents said.
“We have only a handful of options, and all are horrible ““ either get campuses to cut stuff or raise tuition,” regent Bonnie Reiss said, adding that she voted for the increase “with sadness and disgust.”
Under the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, families earning less than $80,000 annually will pay no tuition, and families that earn up to $120,000 will receive a one-year waiver.
UC fees have more than tripled in the past decade. For the first time this fall, the university will take in more from tuition than from contributions from the state. The state has cut more than a billion dollars from the UC since 2008 alone.
During the public comment period, a number of students told the regents that two weeks’ notice on tuition increases is not enough. Alex Jreisat, an incoming transfer student at UCLA, said he will now be forced to take out loans and find a job to finance his education.
“I’m in debt already, and I haven’t even started,” Jreisat said.
AB 970, a bill that would require a 60-day period between the announcement of tuition hikes and their final adoption, is currently before the state legislature.
Chair Sherry Lansing suggested another alternative ““ fixing tuition for four years to offset volatility.
Revenue from the latest increase will only absorb about a quarter of the UC’s total budget shortfall, a drop in the UC’s overall budget, said Provost and Executive Vice President Lawrence Pitts.
The latest $150 million slash in state funding, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown two weeks ago, prompted the new tuition increase.
Brown’s budget also includes $100 million in trigger cuts to the UC if anticipated tax revenues fail to materialize.
A 5.9 percent increase in tuition has been proposed in that event, but the regents tabled the issue ““ a move that resulted from student organizing, student regent Alfredo Mireles, Jr. said.
Nevertheless, fee hikes could still be implemented if the trigger cuts go through later this year, said Nathan Brostrom, executive vice president for business operations.
The board also voted against an amendment that would exempt graduate students from the fee hike.
Regent Norman Pattiz commented on the widespread expectation that the increase would pass, saying there was no back-up plan for the board.
“Nobody has told me … what happens if we vote no,” he said. “I understand why other constituencies cannot vote yes, but I don’t have that luxury.”
Without the hikes, UCLA alone would need to absorb an additional $29 million in cuts, said Chancellor Gene Block, who attended the meeting.
To offset that amount, UCLA would have to replace over 100 faculty members with lecturers, or admit 1,000 nonresident students over California residents, he said.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that a fee increase is the only way we can meet an additional reduction,” Block said, adding, “We also don’t look forward to doing that.”
Mireles voted against the hikes, saying that more than enough money to offset the increase could have been obtained by moving dollars around, he said.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who also voted no, argued that doing so would send a “code red” and could prompt lawmakers to stop cutting from the UC.
The UC’s fiscal woes are throwing middle-class families a sucker punch, a number of regents said.
“We’ve done a lot for low-income families, but we have not substantively addressed ““ except rhetorically ““ what we’re doing for the middle class,” Newsom told the regents.
The proportion of UC students from middle-income families is declining, while the percent from low- and high-income families has risen, according to the UC Annual Accountability Report. One reason for the decrease may be that middle-class families no longer consider the UC affordable, the report said.
The UC is looking into expanding the Blue and Gold opportunity plan for the 2012-2013 school year to cover half of fees for middle-income families,said Nathan Brostrom, executive vice president for business operations.
Under the plan, low-income families earning up to $90,000 would also be waived from paying tuition, up from the current $80,000 ceiling, Brostrom said.
While tuition hikes cover part of the UC’s $1 billion shortfall, other measures are needed to bridge the rest. Unrestricted funding from philanthropy, increasing nonresident enrollment by 2,000 students, recovering more money from research and obtaining savings from operational efficiencies were part of the discussion.
UC leadership also talked about more permanent plans, such as piloting online classes, specialization of campus offerings and differential tuition by campus and discipline.
In the end, though, declining state support is no excuse for putting an additional financial burden on students, said Joelle Gamble, Undergraduate Students Association Council external vice president.
“We shouldn’t have to wait for you to deal with a lack of state leadership,” she said to the regents. “We can be leaders ourselves.”
For more coverage, you can view photos of the UC tuition hike protests.
