Students slam proposed University of California tuition hike

UC students, including Filipino Americans protesting a proposed increase in tuition at the state university. AJ PRESS

LOS ANGELES — When Alyssa Duarte was still in high school, she worked two jobs: waitress at Applebee’s and weekend dog-walker. Still managing to earn stellar grades, Duarte aimed to attend a prestigious university.

Of all the universities she got accepted to, she decided on UCLA, which had the kinesiology program she admired.

“This is my dream school, and it’s amazing that I got into it,” Duarte, 18, told the Asian Journal.

But she knew that tuition was going to be an issue and would give her and her parents more financial stress.

“That’s why I worked two jobs in high school,” Duarte remarked. “I’m the youngest of my family and I see now how difficult it is for my siblings to pay off their college debt. I knew that no matter what, I’d have to take out loans, but I wanted to prepare and hopefully, lessen my own financial strains.”

For students in the University of California (UC), that financial strain may be ratcheting up.

First hike in six years

On Wednesday, January 4, the UC proposed a 2.5 percent tuition ($282) increase for the 2017-2018 year, the overall average tuition growing to $11,502. The controversial student services fee would be $1,128, a $54 increases from the previous year.

If passed, this would be the system’s first tuition increase in six years. The proposals will be reviewed by the UC Board of Regents this month, and will likely see protests from students, just like last November.

Total fees for out of state and international undergraduates would increase by $1,668. These students will be subjected to a 5 percent hike in their supplemental tuition, which would rise from $26,682 to $28,014 starting next academic year.

Students have been opposing the proposed hike since November when more than 80 students vociferously protested at the regents’ meeting in San Francisco, which temporarily closed it down.

Students who receive financial aid — roughly 175,500 students, according to the UC — would have two-thirds of their fees covered by federal and state assistance. But students who don’t receive enough financial aid aren’t so lucky.

Awkward

“We’re in that awkward in-between category where it’s like we’re ‘not wealthy enough to afford paying totally out of pocket’ but ‘not in need enough to receive enough financial aid’ and it’s been really hard trying to put together our finances,” Duarte said, adding that it’s already been difficult to pay other expenses like food, transportation and living expenses.

“It’s really hard when you live in Westwood,” she added with a laugh. “It’s really expensive, and I know next year I’m gonna try to move into an apartment.”

Duarte’s mother, June Duarte, lamented the proposed tuition increase. Her two other daughters are graduates of UC Davis and UCLA, and the family is still struggling to pay off their student debts.

“It’s a little outrageous, if you ask me,” she told the Asian Journal in a phone interview. “It’s already hard paying for my other kids’ debts, and now this. And tuition is just going to increase in the coming years.”

Filipino American UCLA sophomore Frankie Ng thinks that the tuition increase may be necessary and that “the UC wouldn’t impose an increase in our fees for nothing.”

‘Understandable’

“It’s understandable that [the UC] needs more money, and I don’t doubt that they would be using the extra money for students’ needs,” Ng, 17, told the Asian Journal. “But I think it would be great if they did, like, a survey or something for students because I think we should have a say in how the money will be spent. We’re paying for some of it it, after all.”

Ng receives enough financial aid to cover most of his expenses and fees, but he empathizes with students who have to take out loans and pay out of pocket for their university fees.

“I have friends that scramble to pay for their courses and fees every quarter and don’t receive enough financial aid,” Ng said. “Again, I hope the UC has a good reason for wanting to raise tuition, but right now, it seems like a lot of students would be at a disadvantage”

But the UC has justified the proposed increase, saying that the extra revenue will improve the quality of education across the 10-school system, which includes UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine and UC San Francisco.

“We’re at the point where if we don’t do this, if we don’t invest, the quality of education is going to suffer,” UC spokesperson Dianne Klein told the Los Angeles Times. “We want these students to have the same or better experience than students who came before them.”