As University of California fees continue to rise due to the
state budget crisis, an increasing number of UC students are
beginning to feel the financial strains of paying for higher
education.
In accordance with the Higher Education Compact reached between
the UC and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2004, the estimated
UCLA undergraduate fees for 2005-2006 will be $7,062.23, an
increase from $6,575.52 in 2004-2005.
“What’s happening at the UC level is that the (UC
Board of Regents) have raised student fees while cutting student
aid,” said Jenny Wood, Undergraduate Students Association
Council president.
While many students from low-income families are able to receive
financial aid in the form of loans and work study opportunities,
students who do not or no longer qualify for financial aid must
shoulder the financial burden themselves.
“Middle-income students that used to get some financial
aid aren’t able to receive that anymore because it was cut
out of the budget,” she added.
For some of these students, the recent increases will mean the
difference between staying at the UC and being forced to leave
earlier than they planned.
And some students with double majors or minors are now thinking
of giving up one of their majors or becoming less involved in
extracurricular activities in order to graduate in four years.
“If school wasn’t so expensive, I would be more
likely to stay for five years. However, I am now stuck in a
position where I have to choose between staying involved with all
my college activities or saving my parents some money for medical
school,” said Kenny Lin, a third-year psychobiology student
minoring in neurobiology.
Like Lin, students from middle-income families often are able to
pay for increases in fees at the undergraduate level but worry
about the increasing costs of education as they consider graduate
and professional schools.
Fourth-year physiology student Mike Sukharev said while he has
been able to pay for recent fee increases with a combination of
scholarships and family help, he worries about the costs of
professional school.
“That’s going to be a lot more of a problem. Medical
school is on a whole other fee field,” Sukharev said, adding
that he hopes to attend a medical school in the UC system.
In addition to feeling the pinch of the budget crisis in
increased fees, students are also noticing a decrease in funding
for university-provided services.
“We have cut services that go beyond just students fees by
going into services that the university provides, such as outreach
services and health care services,” Wood said.
The lack of funding for student services and the students’
inability to pay for services because of already increasing fees
also has graduate student Karen Salazar worried.
“When students already have to pay so much in fees,
they’re not going to be able to afford things like visits to
the Ashe Center,” said Salazar, who served on the UC Student
Fee Advisory Committee last year and now works for the Center for
Student Programming.
“But student services are important because it is
seriously related to the retention of students. If students
can’t go to the Ashe Center, they won’t be able to
focus in class,” Salazar said.
Yet despite the steep increases in fees, some students still
feel the UC is a bargain school compared to other universities.
After four years of fee increases, Sukharev said he still wants to
attend a UC medical school.
“Even with the increases, the UC is still a lot cheaper
than out of state and private schools. Some private medical schools
charge $50,000 a year, that’s like my whole UC undergraduate
education,” Sukharev said.