In a strongly worded decision, a judge cleared the way for a
lawsuit against the University of California over fee increases to
proceed, overruling the university’s objections and attempts
to block it.
The suit was filed over the summer by eight graduate students
from four UC campuses, including UCLA and UC Berkeley. They allege
that the university has broken student contracts on three counts by
raising fees.
Jonathan Weissglass, one of the students’ counsels in the
suit, praised the judge’s “very thought-out”
ruling.
“We’re very encouraged by the judge’s
decision,” he said.
Jeff Blair, the university’s counsel, could not be reached
for comment.
The plaintiffs allege that the contracts graduate students sign
when they enroll in a university state the university will not
raise fees while the students are enrolled, and that the university
failed to give sufficient notice of the increases.
The university raised student fees by 25 percent over the
summer. Graduate students face another 40 percent increase under
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new budget proposal.
The university attempted to dismiss these claims, declaring them
inadequate grounds for a lawsuit. However, the judge disagreed.
“A reasonable person would be entitled to rely on the
University’s representation that the professional degree fee
will remain the same throughout his or her enrollment, regardless
of what happened to the rest of tuition,” the judge wrote in
his 14-page ruling.
The university also argued that a clause on the UC Web site said
student fees were subject to change, though the judge ruled this
argument as “not persuasive.”
Mo Kashmiri, a law student at UC Berkeley and a plaintiff in the
case, said he was pleasantly surprised that the judge allowed all
three counts against the university to proceed.
“The decision is better than I thought it was going to
be,” he said.
The case will likely take another few months to resolve,
Weissglass said.
If the judge ultimately rules in favor of the students, they
will be refunded the amount of the 25 percent fee increase.