Proposed budget brings back fee increases

After a brief respite from fee increases in the 2006-2007
academic year, the 2007-2008 budget proposal released by Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday includes plans to raise higher
education fees by 7 percent and eliminate funding for academic
preparation and outreach programs.

The increase will push fees up by $495 per undergraduate student
and $543 per graduate student annually, in addition to increases in
the rates students will be paying to help support financial aid at
University of California campuses.

As a result, mandatory fees for undergraduates will increase
from $6,141 to $6,852 per year and graduate fees will increase from
$6,897 to $8,938 per year.

Should the budget pass, California will also no longer fund
programs to help low-income and underrepresented student
populations prepare and enroll in universities.

Fees for higher education have steadily increased by 79 percent
in California since 2001. However, last year, because of a
particularly prosperous fiscal year, Schwarzenegger was able to buy
out fee increases. As a result, undergraduate fees remained stable
at $6,141 in 2006.

In response to the proposed fee increases and funding cut, the
University of California Student Association and students at UC
campuses organized a “Price is Wrong or Right” call-in
Thursday to inform legislators that they are opposed to the
proposed budget.

The call-in, which has been in the works since December, was
intended to express the frustrations of the student community and
urge California state legislators to put a freeze on fee increases
at California universities, organizers said.

Cindy Mosqueda, a UCLA graduate student and UCSA board member,
said students were asked to call the offices of state legislators,
introduce themselves and the UC campus they attend before
explaining their discontent with the increase in fees and the
elimination of funding for academic preparation programs.

She said she hopes the anger and disappointment expressed by
students will urge Schwarzenegger to reconsider the budget and put
a freeze on fee increases.

“This year, students voted in record numbers and we were
counting on education being a priority,” Mosqueda said.

The proposed total funding cut for academic preparation and
outreach programs, in addition to potential fee increases, has her
questioning how important higher education is to state legislators,
she said.

Mosqueda said she hopes the call-in will make students aware of
what is going on and show the state legislature that students are
upset.

Bill Shiebler, president of UCSA, said he was outraged by the
fee increases outlined in the proposed budget.

“Students are feeling angry, frustrated and
betrayed,” he said.

Shiebler said he believes the impact on current and incoming
students will be severe.

“Not only are students paying more for education but no
money is being budgeted for students to get into college,” he
said.

The new budget is especially disappointing for UCSA, which
invested considerable time and resources to make sure students
voted in the November gubernatorial election, Shiebler said.

“UCSA did not register and turn out tens of thousands of
students to vote so that our issues would be ignored, …
deprioritized,” he said.

Mosqueda said preparations for the call-in began in December and
continued until the budget was released.

She added that although much of the organizational work leading
up to the call-in was challenging, many students have been
participating in the call-in.

But UC President Robert Dynes said that although the budget does
not include everything the UCs hoped to receive, it is still
supportive of the UC.

“With the state still facing a major fiscal challenge, we
are grateful for the support the governor has provided in his
budget for some of our key priorities at the University of
California,” he said in a statement. “I believe this
budget represents a strong vote of confidence in the work that the
University of California is doing for California.”

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