UC Merced students hold tuition hike protest

Almost 100 UC Merced students participated in a demonstration on campus Tuesday to protest proposed hikes in tuition across the University of California system.

The University of California Board of Regents on Wednesday will debate a plan to raise tuition by up to 5 percent annually over each of the next five years. Leaders have said the revenue could benefit the university’s academic mission: expanded course offerings, add support services and open 5,000 more slots for California students.

Students at the protest said they are already racking up debt and can’t afford to pay more each year. Alex Ramos, 19, of Fresno said she has already borrowed more than $11,500 as a sophomore.

She receives financial aid, she said, but it doesn’t cover all of her fees, not to mention rent, utilities, food and other daily needs. Getting assistance from her parents is out of the question. “My parents are low-income fieldworkers,” she said. “(It’s) not even an option.”

Ramos said her concern for fee increases will continue even after she’s done in two years, because she has younger siblings looking to follow her into college.

Tuition has nearly doubled in the last decade. According to the UC system’s admissions website, students already pay $12,192 for tuition plus other fees. If implemented, the first increase would push next year’s tuition up by $612.

The UC Merced students began their protest at the Lake Road entrance of UC Merced where they planned to block traffic, according to one of the organizers, Bianca Negrete. The 20-year-old said state Highway Patrol officers asked students to demonstrate on the sides of the road, so they complied.

The demonstrators continued the protests on campus in front of the Kolligian Library, where they held signs and chanted sayings like, “Students united will never be divided.”

According to numbers from UC Merced, 87 percent of undergraduate students enrolled this fall received some form of financial aid – grants, scholarships, loans or work-study.

Negrete, who receives a veteran fee waiver because her father served, said even students who get help struggle to make up the difference. The junior English major said she’s $26,000 in debt.

She also pointed to the students going to school who get no aid. “That other (13) percent still matters. The undocumented students still matter,” she said, adding that students receiving loans have to pay it back.

Demonstrations were planned at schools around the state, a show of solidarity among students facing the increase.

UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but she issued an open letter to students earlier this month. “The proposal for additional funding – either from state investment or tuition increases – will benefit the state and its students in many ways,” she wrote.

She was referring to plans to enroll at least 5,000 more California students systemwide over the five years; continue the system’s financial-aid program; hire more faculty; and keep tuition “predictable.”

“I believe the plan addresses our obligation to students and their families to provide them with the best education possible at the most affordable price,” she wrote. “It is predictable and fair, and it allows families to plan ahead.”

UC officials have also said the system needs the money to help rescue its pension fund – neglected for two decades and facing $7.2 billion in unfunded liabilities – and to cover the growing cost of retiree health benefits.

In September, Leland and UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal both received 20 percent raises to a $383,160 base salary. UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox’s annual pay jumped 5.1 percent to $383,160, and UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry Yang was given a 20 percent salary boost to $389,340.

The Sacramento Bee contributed to this story.

This story was originally published November 18, 2014 at 12:25 PM with the headline "UC Merced students hold tuition hike protest."