25% hike in UC fees approved for fall

Deepa Bharath and Deirdre Newman

The University of California regents on Thursday slapped a 25% fee

increase on students, their second hike this year in the face of

drastic state budget cuts.

The board approved the increase for this fall on a 13-3 vote,

backing the UC Regents Finance Committee’s recommendation on

Wednesday to raise the fees by 25% while giving UC President Richard

Atkinson the authority to go 5% higher. In-state students will now

have to pay about $4,794 a year -- almost a $1,000 increase.

University officials anticipated that the regents would approve

the recommended increase, but don’t know yet if it will end up being

a 30% hike, said Brent Yunek, UC Irvine’s assistant vice chancellor

of student affairs.

“That’s not been adopted yet, and we won’t know for sure until the

state approves its final budget,” he said.

University of California officials expect cuts of at least $380

million to their state-funded budget of about $3 billion, and some

proposals in the Legislature would cut up to $400 million more.

UCI is “doing everything to help students in need,” Yunek said.

“We have a variety of grants to help out [poor] students,” he

said. “We even have partial aid available to middle class families

with income of up to $90,000.”

Yunek said the tight budget has not forced UCI to ax entire

programs, but several educational programs have suffered in one way

or another because of deep cuts in funding.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty,” he said. “But we’re doing

everything we can to protect the integrity of our educational

experience.”

Students interviewed on campus Thursday said they are disappointed

by the fee increase.

Lin Hu, a chemical engineering sophomore, said he cannot afford

the increase.

“Hopefully, financial aid will kick in,” he said. “This is not

good. But it’s education, it’s very important, and you have to pay

for it.”

Rob Ross, a graduate English literature student, said the state

should increase taxes instead of school fees.

“We spend more on the prison system than the school system,” he

said.

The increases do not affect a few such as Jason Tenenbaum, a

graduate chemistry student who gets tuition reimbursement and a

monthly stipend from his advisor.

“But given the budget crisis, something needs to be done,” he

said.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.