UC
system regents approve $700 student fee
increase for next year
By
Katy Tang
The California Aggie
(U-Wire)
DAVIS — University of California students
can expect a rise in student fees for the
upcoming school year, as a result of a vote
by the University of California Board of
Regents on Thursday to approve the 2004-2005
budget.
After
postponing the approval of the fee hikes
on Wednesday due to a tie vote by the board’s
Committee on Finance, the regents met at
UC-San Francisco for a final vote and approved
the student fee increases 14-2.
The
budget incorporated revisions made after
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s compact
agreement with the UC and California State
University systems, and includes a 14 percent
fee increase for undergraduates and 20 percent
for graduates and out-of-state students.
The increases will amount to $700 for resident
undergraduates, $1,050 for resident graduates,
and roughly $3,000 for many professional
school students.
UC
student regent Matt Murray, who voted against
the fee increases, said that the university
needs to come to a better understanding
with the government regarding student fee
hikes.
“It’s
important to recognize that this is part
of a larger state budget process, and that
the university doesn’t have full control
over money that we get from the state,”
he said. “I think it’s an incredibly
important to recognize that the university
budget in the end is decided by the politics
in Sacramento, and the people who care need
to raise their support there.”
Professional
school students will receive the biggest
blow, as fees will increase by about 30
percent. However, nursing schools will be
exempt from the increases, and professional
school students will not be subject to the
20 percent increase in nonresident tuition.
“The
size of the professional fee increases,
in particular, is troublesome to us all,”
Dynes said in a press release. “In
the future, longer-term planning should
give us a better understanding of where
professional fee levels need to be and should
help students plan their own budgets for
changing fee levels.”
Regent
Ward Connerly, who had voted against the
fee increases at Wednesday’s meeting,
reversed his decision in the final vote
in order to not undermine the recent compact
agreement reached by Dynes and the governor.
During
the debate with the board’s Committee
on Finance, Connerly had expressed concerns
regarding the compact and its ability to
hold up “when times go south.”
Several
other regents said they did not want to
raise student fees, but found it necessary
given the state’s fiscal crisis.
Among
the regents’ biggest concerns on Thursday
was the UC’s legal obligation to notify
students ahead of time about the new cost
of attending school.
A
lawsuit against the UC is still pending
after the university was sued last year
for waiting until the last minute to raise
student fees. The university did not comment
on the case for violating its own policy
to notify students about the new student
fees.
“We
really do have a moral and legal obligation
to tell students what the fees are going
to be,” Dynes said in an article for
The Sacramento Bee. “It’s really
painful, but it would be more painful not
to do it.”
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