UC President Mark Yudof aims to give more students financial aid

In light of possible fee increases at the upcoming UC Board of Regents meeting, University of California President Mark Yudof announced a proposal Friday that would raise the income ceiling for UC-wide financial aid from $60,000 to $70,000.

Under the current structure, the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan provides full fee coverage for resident undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need and whose family incomes are $60,000 or less.

With the new plan, fee coverage would be extended to those students whose families make $70,000, according to a statement.

Speaking to students at Sunnyside High School in Fresno, Yudof also proposed a fundraising effort called Project You Can, which would accrue $1 billion from all 10 UC campuses based on private donations.

The topic was especially relevant to the audience based on the socioeconomic level of the student body, because 87 percent of the school’s 3,200 students come from low-income families.

The regents will vote on the plan at their upcoming November meeting hosted at UCLA.

“We’re in the opportunity business, and even in hard fiscal times we are going to be doing everything we can to preserve one of the greatest attributes of the university,” Yudof said in a speech.

Yudof’s address came on the 10th anniversary of the Doctors Academy, a UC-sponsored program at three Fresno-area high schools intended to prepare students for college and health sciences careers.

“Lots of people say that they’d never be able to afford (a UC),” said Leslie Sepuka, a UC Office of the President spokeswoman. “Low-income people need to get the message that (they’re) covered.”

Funds from Project You Can are intended to support scholarships, fellowships and support for professional students, according to a UC statement. While each UC will participate in the program, the individual campuses will decide on the extent of fundraising, as well as specific goals for the support of various schools.

At UCLA, these efforts are already underway with the Bruin Scholars Initiative, a $500 million scholarship program that was announced by Chancellor Gene Block in January.

The program started off with a $100,000 donation from Block and his wife.

Currently, the amount donated to the program has increased to $35 million, said Carol Stogsdill, a UCLA spokeswoman.

She added that the university’s goal is to reach $500 million in scholarship funds by the end of June 2013.

“We’re totally focused on Bruin Scholars Initiative, and in a sense, I think President Yudof wanted to draw attention, especially in such difficult times for students, to efforts underway in various campuses,” Stogsdill said. “We’re hoping that people who can help will and will donate to the campus of their choice.”

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