By Timothy Kudo
Daily Bruin Staff
The UC Board of Regents voted Thursday to raise non-resident
tuition fees by $440, an increase that will raise it by 4.5 percent
to $10,244 per year.
Currently, about 22 percent of graduate students and 4 percent
of undergraduate students will pay the non-resident fee, which must
rise to meet educational costs because of a 1990 state law. The fee
is used to make up for instructional costs that California
residents pay over the years they are taxed in the state.
Though system-wide fees that all students pay haven’t
risen since 1993-1994, non-resident tuition has gone up by about 90
percent.
Despite the increases, the average of 2000-2001 projected
non-resident fees at comparable public universities in Illinois,
Michigan, New York and Virginia is higher than the UC’s for
next year.
Though many regents were in opposition to the increase, next
year’s approved budget already has the money from the
increase going to deferred maintenance on buildings.
“I’m personally afraid that we’re not going to
get the best international students or the best out of state
students but rather, the wealthiest students,” said Michelle
Pannor, the 1999-2000 student regent.
Regent Peter Preuss, who came from Germany to attend UC San
Diego for graduate school, said the increase could scare away
students.
“We are basically not welcoming international
students,” Preuss said. “There’s a benefit to the
state to not be seen as hostile on this issue.”
Chancellor Albert Carnesale said he thought the non-resident
tuition fee was not a “significant factor” in a
student’s decision to attend UCLA.
“The big thing is not the fee itself, but financial
aid,” he said
But, some regents pointed out that not charging the fee to
students was unfair to California residents.
“All of the other taxes that a California-based family are
paying aren’t being payed by a student in another
state,” said Regent Ward Connerly.
Regent Sherry Lansing was in agreement.
“Our primary goal has to be to educate the students within
California and that has to be done within a feasible budget,”
she said.
Eliseo Ilano, president of the UC Student Association and a UC
Berkeley graduate student, said that since a considerable portion
of graduate students aren’t from California, the increase
could affect the UC’s ability to teach students.
“That’s a big chunk of this teaching and research
force,” Ilano said in reference to the 22 percent of graduate
students who are non-residents.
Even though the regents approved the increase, there was
pressure from Sacramento to make it even larger.
The state Legislative Analyst’s Office reported to the
legislature that the non-resident tuition fee should have increased
by even more.
“We don’t recommend that they do it overnight
because that would be a substantial shock,” said Craig
Breedlove, the director of the higher education section of the
analyst’s office.
Because of high fees, the university has had to find ways to
attract graduate students, often through financial aid packages
that mitigate the high non-resident tuition fees.
But, according to Breedlove, the university has given a
disproportionate number of scholarships to non-resident graduate
students in recent years. As a result, the office is asking the
university to provide information on the financial aid policy.
“We’ve recommended that the university report to the
legislature on its financial aid policies as it affects
students,” Breedlove said.
Jim Turner, associate vice chancellor of graduate division
defended the university’s policy on financial aid by saying
that non-resident graduate students are vital to the
university’s role as a top-notch research institution.
He also noted that if they didn’t charge the students so
much, the university wouldn’t have to give them as much
financial aid.
“If we’re going to have students not from California
and they’re going to increase the costs for those students,
then we’re going to have to find a way to help them
pay,” Turner said.