University Of California Regents Expected To Consider Tuition Hike

The University of California Board of Regents is expected to consider a plan to increase tuition for the first time in six years later this month.

Dianne Klein is a spokeswoman for the UC system.

She says the move comes after the university system significantly increased its enrollment of California residents, adding 7500 undergraduates from the state this past year.

Current students are dealing with larger class sizes, less academic support, and fewer classes to choose from, according to Klein.

"We feel that this tuition adjustment is necessary to invest in the quality of their education and to ensure they have the same quality of education as the students that came before them," says Klein.

Under the plan, tuition would go up $282 per year. There would also be a student fee hike of $54 per year.

The increases would bring the total cost to $12,630 per year for a California resident, not including housing.

"And that's the biggest single-year increase since the end of World War II," says Klein. "So we're feeling the effects of that increase because we haven't had the revenue to adequately support these students."

Critics have said the higher tuition would put too much of a burden on students already struggling to finance their educations.

Klein says students who receive financial aid will have the tuition increase covered and may in fact receive more aid after the Tuition goes up.

The UC Regents will consider the tuition increase at their meetings on January 25th and 26th.