Austyn Smith: Support tuition freeze bill

I write to you to express my support for upcoming legislation proposed by state Sen. Anthony Cannella. As a senior at UC Merced, I have experienced firsthand how university fees have increased, just in the past four years.

Senate Bill 58 will ensure that public universities such as the University of California and California State University campuses will not see tuition increases for the next seven years. This bill will work in partnership with Proposition 30, which was passed this fall, to protect students from the rising costs of their college education.

The UC Regents agreed to a one-year freeze at the request of Gov. Jerry Brown, but we could see the same increases in fees we have been experiencing after that year is up, even with the new taxes being collected as outlined in Proposition 30.

Having a college education is essential to being competitive and successful in today's job market. If these fees continue to increase, students are not going to be able to afford to further their education when they may be some of the best and brightest minds in our state.

The UC and CSU systems support more than 670,000 students all across California. Each student is being affected by these fee increases. I would urge fellow students, their families and friends to voice their support for this bill to their local representatives.

If we remain silent on this issue, we will have no choice but to continue to dig deeper into our pockets to afford a higher education.

AUSTYN SMITH

Newman