tuition

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Take a Hike (in tuition) at CSU – and Eventually at UC

Byuclafaculty

CSU considers spring fee hike (excerpt) Capitol Alert, October 29, 2010, Laurel Rosenhall California State University trustees will vote on a mid-year fee increase on Nov. 9 that would raise tuition by 5 percent for the spring term. If the action is approved, tuition for a semester at a CSU campus would rise to $2,220, not including fees that specific campuses charge or books, housing and living expenses. The proposal is not unexpected. When CSU trustees voted in June to raise fees for the current semester they said they would consider another fee increase after a state budget was approved….

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Final Report from Committee on the Future (Except It is a Draft)

Byuclafaculty

There is now a draft report on the UCOP website – entitled DRAFT final report (so it is final but still a draft?) – from the UC Committee on the Future. There are not a lot of surprises. Recommendations are included to speed up undergrad degrees, make transfers easier from community colleges, pursue online education, change the word fee to tuition, have cohort-based tuition schedules, achieve more efficiencies, do more fund raising, wring more money out of grants, have more out-of-state students who pay full freight, etc. Maybe the most controversial is differential tuition across the campuses. The draft report…

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Prop 26 and Its Potential Effect on UC

Byuclafaculty

Proposition 26 on the November ballot would require a 2/3 vote in the legislature for state imposition of various “fees.” It applies a similar restriction to local fees. A 2/3 vote of the electorate would apply to such fees at the local level. At the moment, there is a distinction made between a “tax” (which is subject to a 2/3 vote) and a fee. During budget crises, governments in California have tended to raise fees, which escape the 2/3 requirement, since tax raising is more difficult. Essentially, Prop 26 tightens up the definition of fee, putting more of them under…

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Good News/Bad News on UC Budget

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee reports good news/bad news on the UC budget. Although the article doesn’t say so, part of the funding for UC (and CSU) for this fiscal year is coming from federal stimulus monies which disappear next year. After massive cuts, higher ed funding rises in new California budget (excerpt) Oct. 20, 2010, Laurel Rosenhall A wave of mass student protests, a new lobbying strategy by university leaders, and the governor’s desire to leave a positive legacy in education during his final year in office led to a remarkable turnaround for California’s public colleges in the budget he signed…

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Applied Semantics: UCLA Senate Considers “Fees” vs. “Tuition”

Byuclafaculty

Academic Senate to vote on renaming ‘fees’ to ‘tuition’ (except) Kelly Zhou, Daily Bruin, 10/13/10 The UCLA Academic Senate will vote this week on a UC-wide proposal to officially change the term “educational fees” to “tuition,” which would clarify a confusing term for many students in the UC system. All UC campuses are currently evaluating the proposal, said Ann Karagozian, chair of the Academic Senate. After the schools provide input on the proposal, the Systemwide Academic Senate will make a recommendation by Oct. 22 to the UC Office of the President, according to Undergraduate Council Vice Chair Richard Weiss. “My…

There May Always Be an England But It May Also Cost More to Go to University There

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed is running two articles today on a new official report which calls for rising tuition, reduced public subsidies, and more efficiencies in the British higher ed system. Britain Goes to Market (excerpt) October 14, 2010 Dozens of British universities could face a struggle for survival after a landmark report paved the way for a massive cut in teaching funding and an open market in fees and student numbers. The independent review on higher education funding and student finance, unveiled this week, concedes that fees of £6,000 (or $9,500) are unlikely to bridge the loss of public investment…

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UC Lobbyist Protests Regents Action on Tuition

Byuclafaculty

An article appears today in the Merced Sun-Star about a student protest over rising tuition. It is not unusual for faculty members to join such protests over Regents actions. (The Regents raised tuition substantially last year.) But under the photograph above that accompanied the article, the caption reads: SUN-STAR PHOTO BY MARCI STENBERG Bryant Ziemba, head lobbyist for UC Merced signs a banner against fee hikes Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010 afternoon, during a protest against fee hikes in the quad area in front of the Koolligan Library at UC Merced. The head lobbyist for a campus protesting a Regents action…

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Gimme Five! Just When the Focus is on 3-Year Undergrad Degrees, Some Like 5

Byuclafaculty

The Daily Bruin has an article today with students who are in the fifth year pointing to advantages. However, the UCOF report has led to discussion of expedited 3-year degrees, perhaps with online instruction. Excerpt: For James Aboagye and Rosa Magana, this summer was one of traveling, adventure and serious decision-making. The students got the opportunity to study in Ghana together for two months because they both decided to remain at UCLA for a fifth year. They are part of a large number of fifth-years who take an extra year not only to finish up classes but also to take…

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No Bananas: Rationing of Community College Courses

Byuclafaculty

UC and UCLA have boasted of the degree to which their undergrads are transfer students from community colleges. Such transfers reduce tuition costs to students and increase undergrad capacity at UC. However, due to budget cuts, community colleges are effectively rationing entry – not to their campuses, but to courses needed to transfer. See the LA Times article below: Community college class wait lists throw a wrench into students’ plans: Enrollment in California’s colleges has surged, but budget cuts leave many students unable to get the courses they need, meaning it’ll take them longer to earn a degree and join…

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UC Gets Good PR on Enrollment of Pell Grant/Low-Income Students

Byuclafaculty

UC boosts ranks of low-income students: Officials cite financial aid, with a record high 39% of undergraduates getting federal Pell grants (excerpt) By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times, October 2, 2010 The University of California, sensitive to criticism about student fee hikes, reported Friday that more low-income undergraduates than ever are enrolling at its campuses and said financial aid is helping them to stay. An estimated 70,000 UC undergraduates are receiving federal Pell grants, which typically are awarded to students with family incomes below $50,000. According to the report, that is the largest number in UC history and represents 39%…