The UC Board of Regents met Wednesday at UC San Francisco to discuss the UC Office of the President’s systemwide proposal to raise student fees by 30 percent over the next year.
The proposal calls for a midyear basic student fee increase of 15 percent, which would raise the current 2009-2010 undergraduate fee of $7,788 to $8,373. UCLA students would have to pay the midyear increase over the winter and spring quarters.
Students could expect an additional 15 percent fee increase for the 2010-2011 year.
If the UC Regents approve raising fees at their November meeting, general undergraduate fees would be increased to $10,302 by fall quarter 2010.
Undergraduate nonresident students with $9,702 fees could pay as much as $11,160 after the two proposed fee hikes.
Resident and nonresident graduate students may see an approximate $1,500 fee increase over the next year.
The university faces an $800 million state budget shortfall over the next few years and $530 million in budget cuts in this year alone.
Several officials said to the board that recent cost-cutting measures ““ including annual student fee hikes, curtailed freshmen enrollment, a furlough/salary reduction plan, and administrative salary reductions ““ are only temporary aid for a deeper, troubling problem.
“When there once was a freeway to higher education … there is now a toll road with students paying more and more of the cost,” UC President Mark G. Yudof said.
University projections estimate that the approved fee hikes would generate approximately $292 million, and about $105 million of the revenue would supply financial aid programs.
During the board’s budget discussion, several members said that such measures should be taken into consideration because of the state’s fiscal crisis.
Student Regent Jesse Bernal, a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara, said that the state, not the UC Regents, places the burden of financing on the students.
Though he principally stands against fee hikes, Bernal said such decisions are sometimes necessary ““ but he disagrees with the midyear approach.
“Imposing a fee when enrollment has already commenced for that year is really unfair for the students,” Bernal said. “Students are locked into their college attendance by this time.”
“Students effectively are not given the option to seek a less costly option,” he added.
Regent Bruce Varner said the board should look at budget alternatives such as contingency plans to offset the deficit instead of relying on student fee increases.
“What I’m worried about is that we go ahead and approve student fee increases, making it easier for (legislators) because they are going to say, “˜Look, there’s less of a problem we have to deal with because you kind of fixed that,'” Varner said.
The board also discussed possibly implementing fee increases ranging from $200 to $5,200 for professional degree programs, depending on campus and program, for the 2010-2011 year. Additionally, the regents discussed applying differential undergraduate fees by discipline and recognizing higher costs associated with programs such as business and engineering.
The board will continue its meeting Thursday at the UCSF Mission Bay Community Center. The next UC Regents meeting will take place at UCLA on Nov. 17-19.