Friday, May. 16, 2008

Cost of college on the rise at UC

By VICTOR A. PATTON
vpatton@mercedsun-star.com

Many UC Merced students will have to shell out a few more bucks this fall, following a Wednesday decision by the UC Board of Regents to raise student fees 7.4 percent.

The fee increase is the second approved by the board in less than two years -- raising the price of a UC education by $490 for resident undergraduates, with fees totaling about $8,007 a year.

Graduate student fees will also go up 7.4 percent under the board's plan, resulting in an increase of $546 per year, with fees totalling about $10,376.

The board said the increases were necessary to deal with declining state support for the UC system -- a result of the state's ballooning budget deficit. They also cited increasing operational costs as a reason for the fee increase.

UC President Robert Dynes said in a statement that the decision to raise student fees was "an agonizing one. But given the current state budget situation, these increases are necessary as one part of our effort to preserve the quality and accessibility of the university's programs to the greatest extent possible."

Some students have raised concerns about how the fee increase might affect low-income students, especially because 68 percent of UC Merced's 1,871 students receive some type of financial aid. UC officials say the fee increase generally won't affect students from families with incomes of less than $60,000, since they would be covered by grants.

Diana Ralls, UC Merced's director of financial aid and scholarships, said even students who come from families with incomes between $60,000 and $100,000 will generally qualify to have about half of the fee increase paid for with grants. "We expect that most of our grant recipients will be well protected," Ralls said.

Still, many students aren't buying that grants will be a cure-all for the system's fee hike. Danielle Traphagen, Associated Students of UC Merced external vice president, said borderline students who don't qualify for financial aid will definitely be affected by the increase. She said the cost of a UC education has also outpaced the rate of inflation -- and students are already burdened with a variety of costs.

Traphagen said she already knows of two UC Merced students who have had to drop out for financial reasons. "Any increase in costs is going to affect students no matter what," Traphagen said. "The real problem is that it's a deterrent to have such a high cost for education. There are potential students out there, people who are in high school, who don't know about (grants) or their parents don't know about the grants or scholarships that are available."

Other students said they also aren't looking forward to seeing the cost of higher education rise. "UCs are supposed to be affordable, and this is just kind of a slap in the face to that idea," said UC Merced student Justin Duckham, 21, from San Jose.

Student Juan Carmen, 20, from Los Angeles, said he wasn't surprised about the fee increase, mainly because of the state's budget crisis. "I'm just glad it wasn't like 10 percent or more," Carmen said. "It's still an increase, but it's not like a major one."

Under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's revised 2008-09 budget proposal, $98.5 million in funding for the UC system would be restored, although the governor's proposed cuts would still result in a $233.4 million reduction for the UC system in 2008-09, according to the California Budget Project.

Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.