The UC Board of Regents passed a modified Tuition Stability Plan that includes tuition hikes during their Finance and Capital strategies committee on Nov. 19. The board met from Nov. 18 to 20 at UCLA to discuss financial strategies as well as health services and academic and student affairs.
The existing tuition plan was approved by the regents in July 2021 and aims to ensure stability and predictability for current and incoming students in regards to cost of education. The plan would have to be approved every five years.
Tuition rates are subject to change based on the rolling inflation for every three years, but would only apply to incoming classes. Tuition rates, student services fee and nonresidential supplemental tuition would remain stable after enrollment. For graduate students, any change in uniform tuition and student services fees would be based solely on inflation and capped at 5%.
Although not perfect, ASUCI External Vice President (EVP) Jared Castaneda said the previous model had good intentions.
“I think in some ways, although I think we would all like to have free tuition at one point, it definitely was a little bit better than what we currently have,” Castaneda said in an interview with New University. “Just because that tuition model was made in response to students facing a bunch of financial burdens, and now they’re reversing that.”
The approved recommendations were proposed by EVP of Chief Financial Office Nathan Brostrom, Associate Vice President of Budget Analysis and Planning Cain Diaz and Associate Vice President of Student Financial Support Shawn Brick. The new plan includes three new features: banking, a decrease in Return-to-Aid and a 1% capital increase.
“I think the changes we are making are quite minor. This banking we just talked about would have happened six times in the last 40 years,” Brostrom said at the Nov. 19 meeting. “The 45% to 40% is just recognition that we have had really remarkable outcomes on financial aid but this is also a time where we do need to put more towards campus operations.”
The plan maintains the 5% annual cap on tuition increase for incoming classes, but allows UC to bank additional increases above 5% to be used for subsequent years. The banking system is meant to act as a safety net during years when inflation is high. Most of the money would go towards the operating budget.
The second feature is a direct result of the success of the initial Tuition Stability Plan that promised to allocate at least 33% of total revenue to financial aid. For the final feature, tuition increases are now based on inflation rates and a plus 1% premium.
The revenue created by the 1% increase is meant to support capital needs such as deferred maintenance and upgrading existing infrastructure to make them more earthquake resistant. Brostrom mentioned that most funding provided for capital is for the construction of new infrastructure, not for maintaining current infrastructure.
UC students, staff and regent board members shared their concerns that the new plan would place unnecessary stress on students.
“As you know this is basically a point of inflection with our students,” said Regent Sonya Brooks. “In my view it really kind of shifts the University of California to a model that is trying to align itself with the demands of higher education at this point and that model narrows education to workforce output that devalues equity and inclusion and that makes affordability a privilege rather than a promise.”
Fourth year UCLA student Ella Hansen shared how the new plan will have a severe impact on the future of their younger sister during public comments.
“When the tuition hike passed I was thinking about my sister, she is 17. She is the one who will bear that burden,” Hansen said. “Not to flex, not to brag, but she is I think much smarter and much more ambitious than me and yet I don’t know if she will be able to afford to attend college.”
An amendment proposed by Regent Maria Anguiano was passed 7-5 — with four abstaining from the vote — allows campuses to use the funds for other needs and allows the board of regents to review the plan in seven years.
Castaneda notes that the shift from review every five years to seven years will further disenfranchise students.
“That’s gonna keep us in an everlasting cycle of struggling to literally survive,” Castaneda told New University. “So affecting college affordability, equity and everything because no matter what that model is still gonna be there. I think it’s kind of just a way to further shut out students from the UC [system] and only take in people who can actually afford to enroll in this economy.”
Alejandra Rodriguez Zepeda is a News Staff Writer. She can be reached at alejar16@uci.edu.
Edited by Annabelle Aguirre and Mariam Farag