The UC Board of Regents voted in favor of raising non-resident tuition today, 12 to 3, during a meeting held at UCLA.
The proposal to increase tuition was unanimously voted to be deferred last January at the recommendation of UC President Janet Napolitano.UC Regents Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, John Pérez, Paul Monge and were the only Regents to vote no. The non-resident tuition will hike 3.5 percent to $28,992, an increase of around $900, starting Fall 2019.
“I believe that non-resident student admittees deserve to know now, while they’re making their decision, what tuition is going to be,” Napolitano said before the vote.
UC students from around the state positioned themselves outside the meeting, chanting and demanding the UC Regents consider their proposal to raise non-resident tuition during the Finance and Capital Strategies Subcommittee meeting yesterday, where no one objected to the increase. Students who attended the meeting chanted, “UC, UC can’t you see, we don’t want your tuition fees,” and walked out. “Shame! Shame!” said a student walking out of the meeting.
Caroline Siegel-Singh, a Sixth College Senator and the UC Student Association (UCSA) Financial Aid Advocacy Officer, attended the Regents meeting and said that the decision was a direct result of the California legislature’s attitude towards out-of-state students.
“Today’s decision has been made since November, [the] result of the legislature’s attitude towards prioritizing California’s students,” Siegel-Singh said. “The education provided by the UC is critical to the success of California’s economy and this decision will prevent some of the best students from across the nation from affording the UC.”
On January 24, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown submitted a letter to ask the Regents to reconsider their tuition increase proposal. “I urge you to focus on reducing the system’s cost structures rather than increasing the financial burden on students,” Brown wrote.
In the same vein, California gubernatorial candidates John Chiang and Delaine Eastin (who was a UC Regent herself in the 1990’s), spoke during public comment to advocate against any tuition increases.
The Regents will not vote on an increase on in-state tuition until May, when they will consider a 2.7 percent increase in tuition, raising the cost to $12,972.
“We’re so close to turning the page in terms of significant investment in higher education,” Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, who also serves as a UC Regent, said before the vote. “I just find this an unfortunate decision.”
Sylvia O is a staff writer at The Triton. You can follow her @Sylvia_MJ_O