Lt. Gov. calls for fee caps

Elizabeth Watkins
New University, University of California, Irvine
Nov 19, 2007

As gas prices rise, Southern California’s housing bubble bursts and the holiday shopping season rapidly approaches, UC Irvine students are feeling the pinch—especially when it comes to tuition. Tuition costs at UC campuses have risen 93 percent in the last five years, from mandatory fees of $3,429 in 2001 to fees totaling $6,636 this year. The total costs for room, board, books, tuition and fees now average $23,000 per year for students attending UC schools—approaching private-school levels.

Many students now work multiple jobs in addition to carrying a full course load. Troublingly, the paychecks are often not enough, and many students have now begun to take on serious debt to fund their education. According to the California Post Secondary Education Commission, student debt carried by California students has increased 60 percent over the last decade, and low-income and underrepresented students often carry the heaviest debt burdens. This detriment to affordable education could be a serious disadvantage to the future of California.

A Public Policy Institute of California report released in 2006 found that of the four-and-a-half million jobs that will be available by 2025 in California, three-and-a-half million will require a bachelor’s degree. These fee increases will likely prevent another 2.4 million students from earning their bachelor’s degrees this decade. In addition, students “are receiving less for their money,” said Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association. Taiz cites a ballooning level of administration overhead as part of the reason for less bang for students’ buck in terms of classes, professors and campus resources.

This week, two big steps were taken to halt the alarming trend of dramatic increases in student fees—Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi called for a cap on student fees for UC and CSU students (whose fees have risen 94 percent) at 2007-2008 levels through a press conference and meetings with the UC Regents and CSU Board of Trustees. He cited the benefits of higher education for the state of California—according to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, for every dollar that the state invests in students, it receives $3 back in future taxes and other economic contributions.

Higher education, Garamendi said, is an investment for all of California, and the increase in fees closes the door to many Californians.

“We have seen a dramatic shift in our state’s priorities over the past decade. Reducing state funding forces higher education and balancing the state’s budget on the backs of our students,” Garamendi said. “Sadly, this path takes our state in the wrong direction—creeping down the road to privatization by shifting the cost of higher education from the public at large to students and their families. It’s time to say enough is enough.”

In addition to capping fees at 2007-2008 levels, Garamendi’s resolutions call for “regents and university representatives to keep the legislature and the governor apprised of the necessary state budget resources required to adequately fund the university.” They also call for cutting the fat in “administrative efficiencies” in order to save money.

In addition to Garamendi’s resolutions, students this week filed the first-ever student-led ballot initiative with the attorney general under the moniker Students and Families for Tuition Relief Now.

This proposition will appear on November 2008 ballots. Should it be voted into law, it would freeze tuition for five years for resident undergraduates in both UC and CSU schools. After five years, any future tuition increases would not be allowed to exceed the inflation index. The law would also raise new revenue specifically for the cost of educating UC and CSU students through a 1 percent tax on any individual whose income totals over $1 million annually. Also, the law would set up an accountability process requiring UC and CSU administrators to report to a citizens’ panel of students and parents on how the new revenue is being spent.

“What we are attempting has never been done in California politics, ” said Campaign Director Chris Vaeth. “Students don’t run ballot initiatives, and ballot initiatives rarely involve volunteers. What we lack in money, we make up in heart and a sophisticated field operation.”