Marisa O’NeilStudents in the UC and community...

Marisa O’Neil

Students in the UC and community college systems will pay up to 44%

more for classes under the budget proposed by Gov. Arnold

Schwarzenegger on Friday.

Community college fees will go up from $18 per unit to $26 per

unit to help the state out of its hole, and UC fees will increase 10%

for undergraduate students and 40% for graduate students.

“We want to work with the governor to address the [state budget]

problem,” UC spokesman Hanan Eisenman said. “But we want to preserve

the quality, accessibility and affordability that the University of

California has always offered the state of California.”

The cuts, he said, come on top of hundreds of millions of cuts the

university system has already faced in recent years.

Undergraduate fees will go from $4,984 a year to $5,482 a year,

with additional fees making tuition an average $6,028 annually.

Graduate fees will go from $5,219 per year to $7,307, for about

$8,931 total tuition.

“That is the worst thing they could do in the United States,” UC

Irvine student Jesse Loverme said. “We already can’t train enough

scientists as it is. If fees go up, we’ll lose even more jobs [in

California].”

Fee increases for undergraduates will be capped at 10% per year,

Schwarzenegger has promised.

Spending on faculty will drop, meaning a higher student-to-teacher

ratio, and financial aid will be cut.

“Losing financial aid is one of the most distressing parts of

this,” Eisenman said. “UC is now a national leader in enrolling

low-income students, and financial aid is a big part of that.”

At a Friday press conference, California Secretary for Education

Richard Riordan said that students in real need will still have

access to higher education.

“No child is going to be refused entrance to a community college

or university in California because they can’t afford it,” Riordan

said. “Fees can be waived or covered by Cal Grants and Pell Grants.”

UC schools will also see freshman enrollment reduced by 10%. That

means schools could turn away students who meet eligibility

requirements, Eisenman said.

Students looking to start off at community colleges face higher

fees as well. Fee increases and budget cuts have already hit hard at

Orange Coast College, which has dropped more than 1,500 courses in the past couple of years.

“With a 65% fee increase and budget cuts last year, 175,000

students did not enroll in community college,” said Erin Cohn,

spokeswoman for Coast Community College District. “We must consider

how many we will lose with another 44% increase.”

Full-time community college students already faced a 65% fee

increase last year, Cohn said. Under the new plan, students who

already have a bachelor’s degree will pay $50 a unit.

“I think OCC is a deal,” student Danny Johnson said. “I know kids

who go to Ivy League schools and pay $40,000 a year for the same

classes I take and are just as good. Even at $50 a unit, it’s still a

deal because the classes and teachers are amazing.”

OCC student John Collett saw things differently.

“The cost of living in California is insane now,” Collett said.

“Kids going to college are dealing with getting five people in one

apartment just to pay for rent, and now they’re raising the cost of

classes on us.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].