Tuition at UC San Diego and other University of California campuses across the state would increase for the first time in six years under a proposal unveiled Wednesday and expected to be considered by the Board of Regents later this month.
Under the proposal, in-state base tuition at UC campuses would increase from $11,220 this year to $11,502 in 2017-18, while the accompanying student services fee would rise by $54, from $1,074 to $1,128.
UC officials said the increases are needed following a six-year tuition freeze to help keep down class sizes by hiring more faculty while bolstering student services such as tutoring, academic advisers, mental health services and teachers assistants.
“These are improvements that students themselves say are needed, and which we believe are necessary to ensure timely graduation and a positive student experience,” UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said.
Klein said two-thirds of undergraduate students would have the increase covered by financial aid.
“More than half of California undergraduates have all of their tuition and fees completely covered by financial aid,” she said. “That will continue to be the case.”
According to Klein, one-third of the tuition increase would be used to support financial aid programs for housing, food, books and transportation.
Klein noted that enrollment has continued to increase at UC campuses, and an effort to boost the number of California resident students led last year to the largest single-year increase in in-state enrollment since World War II.
“We’ve reached the point where it is critical that we make these investments in UC’s academic excellence,” Klein said.
Rising tuition is not likely to be restricted to the University of California. The California State University Board of Trustees will likely be considering a tuition hike for the next academic year.
CSU staffers presented a report to the board in November saying the university will lobby for more funding from the state to help overcome an anticipated $167.6 million shortfall. But the report also discussed a potential 5 percent tuition hike that would bump in-state undergraduate tuition from $5,472 a year to $5,742, generating up to $77.5 million.
–City News Service