(Photo Credit: CC BY-ND/Laura Grace Robins/Full of Grace, Seasoned with Salt)
Higher education is an expensive proposition, and thanks to the UC Board of Regents, it’s going to become more expensive for students to obtain a University of California education. According to the Associated Press, a plan was approved today that will raise student tuition by 8 percent in fall 2011. Financial aid offerings will be expanded to help compensate for the immediate cash outlay.
UC tuition hike not the first this year
Thanks to the UC tuition hike, California residents will pay $822 more per academic year, which on average will put the annual amount at more than $11,000. This latest increase follows a massive 32 percent UC tuition hike that occurred earlier in the year. The new rate hike is expected to generate an additional $180 million in annual revenue. One-third of that amount will be earmarked for financial aid.
Earlier this month, the California State University system approved a tuition increase of 15.5 percent. This increases annual tuition from $4,230 to $4,884 starting in the fall of 2011.
Student protest resulted in arrests
The day before the UC Board of Regents agreed to raise tuition, multiple student protests erupted outside board headquarters in San Francisco. One University of California police officer drew his gun and others used pepper spray in confrontations with angry students that led to 13 arrests, 11 of them students and two unidentified. Shouts of “The increase is unFEElievable” rang outside the boardroom as the UC tuition hike decision was made.
The situation for UC students is bleak
UC Merced biosciences major Saema Adeeb told the San Francisco Gate that her family earns too much for her to qualify for financial aid, so she might not be able to return to the UC system. UCLA student body president Jasmine Hill told the regents before their decision that UC tuition hikes have prompted an increasing number of students to shoplift in order to obtain food.
