The Student Success Referendum proposes a $55 per quarter fee, seeking to maintain and expand methods of student support by funding certain student programs. The fee intends to increase UCLA’s ability to assist students. University policy states 25% of the fee – $13.75 per quarter – must be returned to students through financial aid. The fee will be subject to inflation adjustment beginning fall 2029.

Each quarter, the referendum would provide $11 to the Latinx Success Center, $7.25 to the Academic Advancement Program, $4.50 to the Transfer Student Center, $3.50 to the Veteran Resource Center, $3 to the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars, $3 to the LGBTQ Campus Resource Center, $3 to the Black Bruin Resource Center, $2 to the Center for Community College Partnerships, $2 to the American Indian Community Center and $2 to the Pacific Islander Resource Center.

Yes: Dylan Choppin, Opinion columnist

UCLA must continuously provide educational and career support for the approximately 33,500 undergraduate students it educates.

The Student Success Referendum will raise tuition and fees for in-state students by only 0.99% and provide many student resource centers with greater flexibility.

To advocate for our underrepresented peers on campus, students must vote yes on the referendum.

The referendum’s funding for student resource centers such as the Transfer Student Center, Black Bruin Resource Center and Latinx Success Center will provide assistance for historically underrepresented communities on college campuses.

These resource centers bolster community and mentorship among the groups they serve. By supporting them, our campus champions higher education as a place that can provide a meaningful benefit both during and after students’ time here.

While it is understandable that no student wants a significant fee increase, 25% of the funds gathered from this referendum will actually be redistributed through financial aid. Nearly half of UCLA undergraduate students pay no tuition at all, according to the UCLA Newsroom. The income recouped from this fee will help support the countless students who rely on financial aid, making the referendum worthwhile.

The funds the referendum will raise are crucial to ensuring underrepresented students have the same access to higher education opportunities. Support through classes, employment and research gives UCLA an upper hand over universities unwilling to help their students in this way.

A rollback of support for student resource centers is also not out of the realm of possibility. In universities across the country, for example the University of Virginia, students have been deprived of mentors and academic support.

They are also left wondering if the support they received was ever real. That support must continue to be strengthened and upheld at UCLA.

Our university ought to stand by its students. As a member of wider Los Angeles and California, UCLA must support the students who make up our community.

The Student Success Referendum does just that. Vote yes on the referendum.

No: Brett Larsen, Opinion columnist

The Student Success Referendum promotes neither students nor success.

The referendum proposes a $55 per quarter fee when the cost of attending a UC is the highest in history.

Adjusted for inflation, annual tuition in 1986 was roughly $2,175 for undergraduate California residents. Now, it is $13,602. The referendum’s proposed fee makes a bad situation worse.

Students must not be burdened with extra fees that fund campus programs. Approval of this referendum would set a dangerous precedent that encourages the funding of programs through unnecessary student fees.

In the fiscal year 2024, UCLA’s total revenue was $12.8 billion. As such, administrators – not students – should find ways to fund programs.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council must invest its time and resources in researching ways to decrease student fees rather than raising them.

Moreover, the referendum is mired in controversy.

The office of USAC Internal Vice President Tommy Contreras attempted to secure support for the proposition by emailing student organizations from Jan. 22 through Feb. 23.

His office did so about 11 weeks before the designated campaigning period, which began April 8. This is in violation of the Election Code. If a proponent or opponent of a ballot measure violates the Election Code, a proposition may be disqualified.

The referendum was ultimately not disqualified. Instead, Contreras’ office was prohibited from campaigning until April 22, two weeks after the beginning of the designated campaigning period.

The passage of this referendum would demonstrate electoral misconduct is acceptable and even advantageous.

It would also demonstrate increases in student fees are permissible, which may inspire similar price hikes in the future.

USAC should introduce policies that help students, not hurt them.

Vote no on the Student Success Referendum.