UC President Proposes 8% Fee Increase

University of California President Mark Yudof has proposed an 8 percent student fee increase, among other hikes, to close the state school system's massive budget shortfall.

The Daily Californian has more:

If approved by the UC Board of Regents, Yudof's proposal would raise the UC system's educational fee by $828 to $11,124 - more than twice what the fee was in 2003 - as well as the student services fee by $72 to a total of $972.

Along with the increases, Yudof has proposed an extension of the university's financial aid plan so students from families making less than $80,000 will have all fees paid for them by the UC, while students from families making under $120,000 will be shielded from the increase for the first year.

Many students pursuing professional degrees will face fee increases as well.

In an open letter to California published on the Huffington Post, Yudof wrote that the school system has made "solid progress" in balancing its budget:

..we are, for instance, embarked on a campaign to wring $500 million out of administrative expenses by initiating a series of practical but long overdue efficiency measures. This is money that will be put toward our core mission of serving students. We also have been gaining political allies in Sacramento, where the latest State budget did not deliver all that we sought, but at least restored one-half of the cuts made in the prior year.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, state support for the UC system has dropped 10 percent since 2007-2008.

Comments

[rifraf1001]

05:11 PM on 11/10/2010

Gosh this makes me sad. When I went through Cal (1972 to 1976) I paid about $800 per year. Of course that was before Ronald Reagan changed the concept that the UC system was a valuable state resource that should primarily be funded by the state.

[SangZe]

12:31 PM on 11/10/2010

I guess they want to cover their raises.

[MrUnlimited]

06:57 AM on 11/10/2010

Although the rate at which UC system costs have increased is cringe-worthy, I think that the UC system's current costs are finally becoming reflective of the high quality universities within the system.

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University of California President Mark Yudof has proposed an 8 percent student fee increase, among other hikes, to close the state school system's massive budget shortfall.

"If approved by the UC Board of Regents, Yudof's proposal would raise the UC system's educational fee by $828 to $11,124 - more than twice what the fee was in 2003"

So let me get this straight...students at Berkeley and UCLA were paying UNDER $6000/yr to attend?!?!?! Wow, they were REALLY SPOILED!!!

[LisaLisa1234]

09:35 AM on 11/10/2010

When I started at UCSD in 1986, I paid 524.00 for each 10-week quarter.

My husband managed to graduate with his education fully paid for by Pell grants, small scholarships, & a part-time job.

We received a fantastic education & graduated free from the burdens of student loans.

[MrUnlimited]

11:23 AM on 11/10/2010

Your response reflects my opinion of the UC system...in terms of educational quality, it's pretty much the envy of the rest of the other states' public systems AND it has been really cheap for a long time now.

[Xenopus]

07:58 PM on 11/09/2010

I guess when faculty, Deans and Chancellors earn from $200,000 up to a million per year, any increases seem relatively small. Yet, the University is also making money off the backs of retirees by cutting their supplemental Health care coverage by 23% down to 70%. I think that is a sad situation, to dump on the people who have served the University for years, and now have no other place to turn.

[sizgorich]

09:02 AM on 11/10/2010

Faculty in the humanities start in the very low 50s in the UC and they earn every increase by teaching and publishing. For most faculty, making $200k is a pipe dream. Faculty have also voluntarily taken py cuts to save clerical jobs and avoid fee increases. Administrators in the UC are indeed obscenely overpaid.

[TallThinMan]

04:33 PM on 11/09/2010

FIRE THE UC BOARD OF REGENTS and all the Head Honchos In charge of implementing the gradual hikes and Im sure tuition will be a breeze once again

[suec03]

07:16 AM on 11/10/2010

The problem is that over the past 30 years, the state legislature has severely reduced the amount of state funding to the UC and CSU, forcing the UC and CSU administrations to fundraise by seeking more research grants from public and private sources, more donations from alumni and others, and the remaining shortfall is taken up by raising student tuition and fees.

[sizgorich]

09:03 AM on 11/10/2010

exactly.

[rillem]

01:23 PM on 11/09/2010

In the 1960's it cost $63 a quarter to attend U.C. Berkeley, one of the world's great Universities. Pete Wilson began the massive increases in fees in the early 1990's. When Americans wake up an wonder what happened to our competitive edge, one of the answers will the cost of a quality education. In no other leading country is it so expensive to attend a public University.

[kittybookate]

05:06 PM on 11/09/2010

No doubt. I entered UC Santa Barbara in the fall of 1990 and paid $400/qtr. When I left school in 1994 tuition was $1200/qtr. These numbers seem so small compared to what students currently paid but at the same time to see fees triple over 4 years is outrageous. We cannot compete as a country if higher education is only available to a small portion of our population.

[lecloche]

07:47 PM on 11/09/2010

Yep, I paid 208.50 per quarter in 1973 my freshman year. I bet the still non-existent parking at UCLA costs more than that now. But don't blame Pete Wilson, blame Prop. 13 which was an over reaction to a horrible state tax structure.

[lostnacfgop]

10:20 PM on 11/09/2010

yep, my Fall quarter '80 Reg fees were 253.00/qtr in the hallowed hills of Westwood. Our oldest child's reg fees at UC Berkeley this semester (his second) spiraled to 6,800.00. Getting ridiculous when the only way to pay for this is to burn retirement funds. The alternative - turning out 20-somethings in starter home debt - clearly unacceptable. And when the second kid hits the higher ed circuit next year, Plasma center time!!

[cloudminder]

12:58 PM on 11/09/2010

# UC Boss Mark Yudof's Case Against Himself (2009)
# U.S. Senator Grassley Raises Concerns About Integrity of Finances at University of California System (2009)
# UC Regents Award Huge Pay Increases To Execs While Furloughing Staff (2009)
# Audit Finds Excessive Expenses By Former CSU and Current UC Chief Information Officer (CIO) (2009)
# POGO Praises U.S. Senator Grassley For Raising Concerns About Integrity of Finances at UC (2009)
# Yakuza Mob and UCLA Med Center on CBS "60 Minutes" by Lara Logan (2009)
# UC San Diego Data Security Hotline Swamped (2009)
# UC Irvine To Fire Whistleblower Nurse?! (2009)
# New UC Davis Chancellor Linked to "Clout" Admissions Probe (2009)
# UC San Francisco Belatedly Announces September data breach (2009)
# A Tangled Web At Berkeley by UC Santa Cruz Professor John Ellis (2009)
# UC Berkeley Journalism Students Data Breached (2009)
# UC Davis Chancellor's Actions Cause Concern (2009)
# Senator Grassley Supports UCSF Whistleblower (2009)
# Negligence Caused UCLA Student Death - State Safety and Health Agency Faults University For Training Lapses, Unsafe Practices (2009)
# Deadly UCLA Lab Fire Leaves Haunting Questions (2009)
# UC Berkeley Computers Hacked-160,000 Staff,Student, Alumni, Patients etc At Risk (2009)
# Cal/OSHA Chief To Oversee Criminal Investigation Of Fatal UCLA Lab Fire (2009)
# What Can Be Learned From The Death Of A Young Biochem Student At UCLA? (2009)

[cloudminder]

12:51 PM on 11/09/2010

# Schwarzenegger Vetoes Open Govt Transparency At UC, CSU (2010)
# How the University of California Regents Spin Public Money into Private Profit, 8 part series (2010)
# UC Weighs What To Do With Abandoned President's Mansion (2010)
# UC Administrators Get Failing Grade (2010)
# Cal baseball, rugby refuse to go quietly after termination of their programs (2010)
# Buying A Business School - UCLA's (2010)
# In Investment Votes, UC Skirts Own Review Policy (2010)
# A Plan To Save Public Education By Abandoning It (2010)
# Cost Cuts Could Choke Innovation at UC Berkeley (2010)
# UC regents shore up retirement funds — and a key executive's pay (2010)
# U.C. to Manage RENTAL Home Costs of President - Hopes To Avoid Another $700,000 In Expenses (2010)
# UC President's Housing Raises Ire and Expenses (2010)
# U.C. Spokespeople's Dueling Rationales For Booting Filmmaker Out of Regents Meeting (2010)
# UC Needs Some Education On Meetings Laws (2010)
# Governor Signs Yee's Bill to Protect UC Whistleblowers (2010)
# Schwarzenegger Vetoes Whistleblower Protections for UC Workers (2009)
# UC Denies Filmmaker's Right to Tape Regent Meeting (2010)
# More problems discovered at UCI Medical Center Results of a surprise federal inspection could put the hospital's Medicare funding at risk.(2010)
# Is UC Regent's Vision for Higher Education Clouded By His Investments? (2010)
# UC Davis Uses Anti-SLAPP Provisions To Kill Prof's Discrimination Lawsuit (2009)
http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/

[cloudminder]

12:57 PM on 11/09/2010

# UC Davis Principles Apparently Also Include the Undermining of Civil Rights Protections for Employees (2010)
# UC Regents Schwarzenegger and Wachter – Are They Making A Profit From University Investments? (2010)
# Billion Dollar Baby: The University of California Invests $53 Million In Two Diploma Mills Owned By A Regent. (2010)
# Sen. Yee clashes with UC, CSU over Alumni , Donor Privacy (2010)
# UCSF Head Has Millions In Medical, Drug Stocks (2010)
# Audit Demands Investment Reform, We Hope- Daily Bruin (2010)
# UCSF Chancellor and Controversial Tobacco Stock(2010)
# UC Regents sue UCLA radiology professor Robert Lufkin for engaging in non-UC work (2010)
# Federal Civil Rights Suit Brought Against UCLA, UC Regents For Copying Prof Lufkin's Hard Drive (2010)
# Operational Mediocrity- Daily Californian (2010)
# Protest Studies, The New Yorker (2010)
# Protest Studies: California is broke, and Berkeley is in revolt (2010)
# UCLA Consultant Involved In Accounting Scandal (2010)
# More Scandals Uncovered at UC, Yee Requests State Audit (2010)
# UC Regents OK Millions In Incentive Pay To Top Execs (2010)
# UC Davis Pays Settlement To Whistleblower Over Retaliation- Food Stamps Program Involved (2010)
# Former UC Davis Employee Sentenced For Theft - Food Stamp Program Involved (2009)
# UC Admits Misleading Public About Senior Executive Buyout Taker (2009)
# List of Salaries of UC Highest Paid Employees (2009)

[cloudminder]

01:14 PM on 11/09/2010

these are actual headlines in CA newspapers
read 'em here:

http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/

[Moravecglobal]

06:09 PM on 11/27/2010

The problem is not $ at UC Berkeley. The problem is how the Chancellor allocates $. Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s eight-year fiscal track record is dismal indeed. He would like to blame the politicians in Sacramento, since they stopped giving him every dollar he has asked for, and the state legislators do share some responsibility for the financial crisis. But not in the sense he means.
A competent chancellor would have been on top of identifying inefficiencies in the system and then crafting a plan to fix them. Competent oversight by the Board of Regents and the legislature would have required him to provide data on problems and on what steps he was taking to solve them. Instead, every year Birgeneau would request a budget increase, the regents would agree to it, and the legislature would provide. The hard questions were avoided by all concerned, and the problems just piled up to $150 million of inefficiencies….until there was no money left.