A proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would prevent
universities from drastically increasing student fees has been met
with cautious optimism by members of the University of
California.
In his State of the State address on Tuesday, Schwarzenegger
proposed that universities should not be allowed to increase fees
by over 10 percent per year.
Schwarzenegger’s proposal also applies to student fee
increases at the California State University system and community
college system.
Although colleges and universities will have to “share the
burden of the financial crisis,” widely fluctuating fees
should be moderated so students and their parents can plan to pay
for higher education, the governor said.
UC student fees rose 11.8 percent in 2002, and an additional 30
percent in 2003. These increases came after a 5 percent drop in
fees during both the 1998 and 1999 academic years, and no fee
increases until 2002.
The regents increased fees in 2002 and 2003 in response to a
series of cuts in state funding to the UC. Over the past three
years, state funding to the UC has dropped 14 percent while
enrollment has increased by 18 percent. An additional $29.9 million
in mid-year cuts are set to go into effect this year, according to
a press release from the UC Office of the President.
The cuts are expected to dramatically decrease funding to the
university’s outreach programs and completely cut funding to
the university’s labor research institutes.
Hanan Eisenman, a spokesman for UCOP, said the UC has always
supported a policy of moderate and predictable fee increases, but
any fee policy must take state support into account because the UC
is partially subsidized by state funds.
If the UC does not raise student fees enough to help make up for
cuts in state funding, the university may have to make additional
or deeper cuts to non-instructional and instructional programs.
Matt Murray, the 2003-2004 student regent, said the proposed cap
on fee increases is feasible if the state gives the UC enough
support to maintain its goals of quality, access and
affordability.
“I’m glad that the governor wants to limit
fees,” Murray said. “It is a good starting point for
discussion.”
Brad Hayward, a spokesman for UCOP, emphasized the importance of
state support.
“You can’t divorce fee levels from the money the UC
gets from the state,” Hayward said.
“If fees were set by a formula, you could have a situation
where the state is disinvesting in the UC, and quality and access
could go down,” he added.
Some UC officials have said Schwarzenegger’s speech did
not provide enough information for them to comment about the
proposed fee increase cap, and they are waiting to see the budget
when it comes out on Friday.