UCI Students Assail Fee Hikes, Say Poor, Minorities Will Suffer

Fear, confusion and anger dominated the UC Irvine campus Thursday afternoon as word spread that student fees were going to jump $650 a year.

Some gasped at a student council meeting when they heard of the 40% increase approved by the University of California Board of Regents in San Francisco.

“It’s going to make UCI not a public institution but a private institution--just another Stanford or USC,” predicted Matt Hale, 22, executive vice president of Associated Students at UC Irvine. He noted that regents already had hiked student fees 10% for the current school year.

“If they keep increasing fees, it’ll be an education for the rich people of California because they’ll be the only ones who can afford to come here,” Hale said.

The $650 increase--the largest adopted in the history of the UC system--was one of a series of measures approved by regents in an effort to cope with a $2.2-million cut for UC in the governor’s proposed budget.

At UCI, the increase means that students will pay total fees of $2,524 for undergraduates and $2,892 for graduate students next fall. It does not include room or board.

Kevin Kandalaft, president of Associated Graduate Students, charged that the state and the regents were forcing students to bear the brunt of the crunch.

“I think it’s ridiculous that the state grossly mismanages its budget and the students are paying the price,” said Kandalaft, 24, who expects to get his master’s degree in business administration in June.

Despite UC pledges of extra financial aid for the needy, several students contended that the increase would hit hardest at poor and minority students who are barely able to afford college as it is.

Kieya Griffith, co-chairwoman of the African-American Student Union at UCI, said the increases may force her to give up one of her two majors--social science and music.

“I’ll have to make a decision whether I can afford two degrees or if I should try and get out with the easiest one,” said the 20-year-old junior from Compton. “I did not anticipate taking out that many loans when I started here. And with budget cuts in financial aid, I don’t have much to look forward to but more debt.”

Regents, who had been barraged by UCI student phone calls before Thursday’s vote and who were given a student petition opposing the fee increase, may not have heard the last of UCI’s Anteaters.

Hale said the student council has formed committees to brainstorm ways of overturning the increase. Kandalaft said students in the Graduate School of Management were circulating another petition.

“All we can do now is appeal to the legislators and tell them how much this is going to hurt,” said Hale, a senior majoring in political science. “Hopefully, they can look at the budget and find other places to cut that the regents couldn’t.”