UC leaders raise tuition despite protests, chants

The University of California Board of Regents voted Thursday to adopt a plan that would allow UC system leaders to raise tuition by up to 5 percent annually over the next five years if UC Merced and its counterparts do not receive more funding from the state.

After a highly emotional public comment period, in which students pleaded with the regents to “find your souls” and to keep college more affordable, the controversial proposal passed 14-7 over loud chants of “shame on you.”

Ivan Flores, 21, president of the Associated Students of UC Merced, said he was “disappointed” by the vote, his voice hoarse from chanting during a protest earlier in the week.

Because each year’s increase will be contingent on state funding, Flores said he’ll cross his fingers and hope for the best. “It’s unfortunate that this happened,” he said. “Like they said, it’s a plan. (So) let’s hope it’s not the worst-case scenario.”

The plan calls for the increased revenue to benefit the system by expanding course offerings, adding support services and opening 5,000 more slots for California students.

Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, who all serve as ex-officio regents, were present at Thursday’s meeting to vote against the proposal. Brown has argued that increasing tuition would break with an agreement he made to increase UC funding over four years on the condition of a tuition freeze. Two new regents he appointed last week, including former Speaker John A. Pérez, were also among those voting no.

Preliminary discussion of the tuition plan stretched on for more than two hours on Wednesday, following a tense morning of protests in which students attempted to block the regents from their meeting. Brown led efforts to strike down the tuition increase, introducing a last-minute proposal for a committee to study how UC could cut costs instead, but the regents’ committee moved the proposal forward to the full board vote.

On Tuesday, students across the state held demonstrations to show their disapproval of the increases. Almost 100 protested at UC Merced while chanting and holding signs.

Jefferson Kuoch-Seng, the president of the University of California Student Association, said he was among the scores of students, including a few from UC Merced, who attended or sat outside of the regents meeting in San Francisco. He said most were not surprised the vote passed, but they were disappointed.

He said the board fell short of its mission to maintain accessibility and provide an education for as many Californians as possible. “As for the regents, I think they did listen to us; they did hear our concerns,” he said. “But, at the same time, they didn’t uphold that mission.”

Kuoch-Seng represents the 240,000 students on 10 UC campuses. The 21-year-old, who is also a UC Merced student, said to maintain its long-term financial health, the UC system will have to find better ways to fund the campuses than to lean on student pocketbooks.

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. Depending on next year’s state funding, the first increase could push tuition up by as much as $612.

If tuition continued to rise by 5 percent each year, students would pay $15,560 by 2019.

Middle class students stand to feel the greatest effects from tuition hikes, Kuoch-Seng said. “Middle-class students don’t have as much access,” he said. “They do have a little more loans. They do have a lot more debt.”

More than 60 percent of UC Merced’s undergraduates qualify for Pell Grants, which go to students from low-income families.

Sacramento Bee reporter Alexei Koseff contributed to this story.

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 5:05 PM with the headline "UC leaders raise tuition despite protests, chants."