Rescue California

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UC May Seek 30% Fee Hike

July 03, 2003

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17. It seeks approval of a 25% fee increase, which would translate into a $960 annual boost, but it also would give Atkinson the authority to increase the amount to 30% this summer if warranted by state budget cuts.

That 30% boost would bring systemwide fees to $4,984 per year for California-resident undergraduates. Taking individual campus fees into account, resident undergraduates on average would pay about $5,400 annually, excluding room and board and mandatory health insurance.

UC officials said that the system's fees, with the 30% increase, would remain $1,200 below the average of equivalent institutions across the country. Critics have pointed out, however, that the high cost of living in California's urban areas means that students still are required to shoulder substantial expenses.

To soften the impact, UC officials pledged that most students with family incomes of $60,000 or less would have their fee increases fully covered by financial aid. In addition, aid would cover about half of the fee increase for many students with family incomes of between $60,000 and $90,000.

But Steve D. Boilard, director of the higher education unit of the Legislative Analyst's Office, criticized the financial aid proposal. "It's unclear to me why a family making $90,000 shouldn't pay the full fee, especially given that the taxpayer is already picking up the tab for most of the cost of the student's education."

He added, however, that the proposal to curtail enrollment growth "makes sense."

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