UC to Vote on Increasing Tuition and Fees 2.7 Percent

The University of California Regents will vote on a 2.7 percent tuition increase for residents and a 3.5 percent increase for non-residents at their upcoming meeting tomorrow, Jan. 24.

The proposed tuition hike will increase resident total cost to $12,972 and non-resident total cost to $28,992 starting Fall 2018.

The UC Office of the President (UCOP)  cites recent state budget adjustments as the key consideration for the proposed changes. In 2015, UCOP reached a tentative deal that would have increased the UC’s base budget 4 percent annually, but the recently proposed California state budget proposes only a 3 percent increase for the 2018-2019 academic year. Although the UC claims to have fully implemented nearly all the funding framework’s reforms, Governor Jerry Brown believes that the university needs to reduce cost structures before charging students more.

“The state gave us a three percent increase [in state funds] and inflation is expected to be at 2.9 percent next year,” said Caroline Siegel-Singh, Sixth College Senator and UC Student Association Financial Aid Advocacy Officer. “So it is not really an increase, it’s just the baseline while asking for increased enrollment at the same time.”

Traditionally, a tuition increase is proposed at the Regents meeting and then voted on at the following meeting. However, this is the first time in at least a decade that tuition is set to be proposed and voted upon in the same meeting. If passed, this will mark the second tuition hike since the end of a six-year tuition hike freeze in 2017.

The Regents last voted to increase tuition in Jan. 2017 and increased the salaries of eight of the ten Chancellors, including UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, by thousands of dollars at their September 2017 meeting.

Mo Al Elew is an Assistant News Editor at The Triton. You can follow him @SoloMune.