Large protests are expected Wednesday, when University of California regents vote on a plan to raise fees 32 percent over the next year and – for the second year in a row – reduce the number of students the university will serve.
The proposal calls for increasing undergraduate fees 15 percent for next semester and another 15 percent in the summer, bringing the annual cost of a UC education next year to more than $10,000 – not including room, board and books.
Students are planning to protest the fee hikes Wednesday at UC Berkeley and UCLA, where the regents will hold their meeting. A panel of the UC regents is scheduled to vote on the plan Wednesday, with the full board voting Thursday.
"The fee increases will substantially limit access to what was once supposed to be free higher education for residents of California," said Sarah Raridon, 21, a UC Davis senior who will participate in the protests at Berkeley. "That's demoralizing."
University leaders say they take no pleasure in raising the cost of a UC education but say their plan should not affect the neediest students. Those whose fees are covered by Cal Grants or other aid for low-income families will not have to pay the increase.
"We've got strong programs for low-income students," said Russell Gould, chairman of the regents. "But I do worry about the impact on middle-class students."
The university is working to expand the number of students who qualify for financial aid, Gould said. Right now UC offers scholarships to all students whose families make less than $60,000 a year, the state's median income. Regents will vote Wednesday on raising the annual income threshold for the Blue and Gold scholarship to $70,000, which would help an additional 800 students.
The regents will also vote this week on the university's budget proposal to the state Legislature. UC is asking for a $913 million funding increase for 2010-11. If the university does not receive the funds, its plan calls for cutting freshman enrollment by 2,300 students.
President Mark Yudof said his budget proposal would fix some of the damage done by 20 percent cuts imposed by the Legislature earlier this year.
"The budget I have proposed will get us out of this hole and on to firm ground," Yudof said in a statement. "If these cuts continue, we will lose our world-class faculty, we won't be able to deliver the education students deserve, and the miracle that is UC will be diminished."
Gould said student protests don't have much influence on his decision-making. Fees must go up to maintain UC's quality, he said.
"I understand that students aren't happy," Gould said. "The reality is we need to support the quality of this institution and we'll take the action necessary to do that."
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