tuition

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Worries About the Obama Tuition Plan Seem Confined to Private Universities

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts on this blog  noted the remarks of President Obama indicating that the federal government would somehow penalize universities whose tuitions were rising.  But yours truly also opined that it was very unlikely that public universities, such as UC, would be penalized since their tuitions were lower than the privates and they tended to enroll a greater percentage of lower income students. A short piece today in Inside Higher Ed seems to reinforce that view.  It seems that it is presidents of private universities that are upset. See http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/02/01/white-house-adviser-takes-questions-obamas-plan In short, it’s one less thing to worry about.  So be…

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More on the Obama/Tuition Issue

Byuclafaculty

As a prior blog post noted, President Obama’s State of the Nation address earlier this week contained a threat to cut federal support to universities whose tuitions were rising. But it was not clear what exactly was involved. Insider Higher Ed has a brief story – with a link to a NY Times iece and a link to a White House fact sheet about the proposal.  In fact, to the extent that the proposal is implemented – always a question given Congressional gridlock – UC and UCLA are likely to benefit.  Our tuition is rising but it is still low…

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Obama on Higher Ed Tuition and State Support

Byuclafaculty

In the State of the Union address last night, President Obama called on states to enhance their higher ed budgets and universities to hold down tuition.  Whether the California state legislature is going to heed that request is another matter, of course. The President talked about less federal aid if tuition goes up, although in what form that would come about was not clear.Video clip below. “When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college.  At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the…

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Plenty of Nothing

Byuclafaculty

Here is a quote from the governor’s recent budget proposal: “The University of California (UC) will receive an increase of $90 million General Fund for base operating costs, which can be used to address costs related to retirement program contributions.” Question: What does it mean?  Answer: Nothing.  UC has always been free to take its general revenue and put it into the pension fund.  Indeed, since the state has so far refused to resume paying the employer contribution for state-funded employees into the pension fund, that is what UC has been doing. Question: If it means nothing, why are you…

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UC-Riverside Students Propose Tuition Alternative Based on Future Pay

Byuclafaculty

From the Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/16/12.  As the excerpt below notes, the idea described has been around for awhile in various forms.  There would need to be a legally-binding mechanism for verification of income and payback including for grads who left California.  And there could be variations in the formula used.   It will be interesting to see what UCOP and the Regents have to say: It took nine months of late-night meetings, data crunching, calculations and consultations by a small group of UC Riverside students to hammer out what they say is an antidote to state cutbacks for higher education and…

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Tuition Bargain at UCLA

Byuclafaculty

Despite skyrocketing tuition costs, three University of California schools were named among the nation’s best public school bargains in rankings published Tuesday by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego finished seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively, in the magazine’s annual analysis, which honors 100 schools for their combination of quality and affordability. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was ranked first for the 11th consecutive year… Full story at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/uc-schools-ranked.html What a bargain!  We just need someone to get the word out: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QeWO9K7Egs&w=320&h=195]

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Don’t Look for Holiday Cheer from the Washington Post

Byuclafaculty

The Washington Post has looked west of late: UC-Berkeley and other ‘public Ivies’ in fiscal peril Daniel de Vise, Dec. 26, 2011, Washington Post Across the nation, a historic collapse in state funding for higher education threatens to diminish the stature of premier public universities and erode their mission as engines of upward social mobility.  At the University of Virginia, state support has dwindled in two decades from 26 percent of the operating budget to 7 percent. At the University of Michigan, it has declined from 48 percent to 17 percent.  Not even the nation’s finest public university is immune….

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Another Hint of Discussions with the State Behind Closed Doors on Multiyear Tuition Increase Deal

Byuclafaculty

The text below in italics is from UC President Yudof’s Facebook page. As noted in a prior post on this blog, there are hints of a multiyear-tuition-increase/steady-budget-support-from-the-state being discussed behind closed doors with Brown administration officials. See the bold print below. We are extremely disappointed that UC is faced with yet another significant State budget reduction: the $100 million “trigger cut” just announced. This additional cut will exacerbate the fiscal challenges the University faces in the current year and place additional stress on the quality of education provided to UC students. While the $650 million cut to UC enacted by…

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UC-Berkeley Announces New Tuition/Financial Aid Plan

Byuclafaculty

Below is the press release and a related video. Note that the aid is said to be financed by non-state sources including recycling revenue from out-of-state students. UC Berkeley launches groundbreaking middle-class financial aid plan By Public Affairs, UC Berkeley | December 14, 2011 University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau announced today (Wednesday, Dec. 14) a new financial aid program to help middle-class families pay for the growing cost of an undergraduate degree. For families whose gross income ranges from $80,000 to $140,000 annually, the new plan caps the contribution parents make toward the total annual cost of a…

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Buried Lede: UC Reviving Multiyear Tuition Increase Plan with State?

Byuclafaculty

Last September, UC President Yudof proposed to the Regents a multiyear tuition increase plan. The Regents argued among themselves and nothing was adopted. Today’s San Francisco Chronicle, in a report on how higher ed is dealing with the trigger cuts (see earlier blog posts), has a buried lede*: UC will offset the $100 million cut with money it over-contributed for health care, a pool of excess cash that happens to be just above $100 million, UC spokesman Steve Montiel said. “It’s a temporary solution,” Montiel said, adding that UC is in talks with the state Department of Finance to try…