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Buckling under a billion-dollar deficit, the UC system continues to suffer from inadequate state funding without relief in sight. Over the past year, students have seen alarming cuts in course offerings, layoffs, and salary reductions for faculty and staff, all on top of a 32 percent increase in already excessive fees. In such an economic drought, asking even more from students and the families who support them is alarmingly counterproductive, yet UC President Mark Yudof proposes just that: an 8 percent fee increase that brings the total paid in fees to $11,124 for 2011-12.

This proposal, along with several revenue-related options the UC Board of Regents will consider today, creates yet another obstacle for community college students who plan to transfer to UC schools. With the deadline for UC and CSU applications fast approaching on Nov. 30, President Yudof has proposed an ill-timed and unfavorable expense for current community college as well as UC students.

While such fee increases benefit those who qualify for financial aid, it does so at the expense of middle-class families, who now have to pay even more for the same or perhaps lower quality of education as before.

According to President Yudof’s Nov. 8 “letter to California,” a third of the estimated net infusion of $116 million raised from the increase will go towards financial aid, an initially sound goal to reach. This would allow expansion of the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan that covers the full tuition and fees of students whose family incomes fall below $80,000.

However, after the drastic cuts in classes and downsizing, the UC system should look to lower operation costs rather than raise more money to maintain them. The fees only serve to aggravate the financial struggles of students in the UC systems and further discourage transfer students from attending the UC’s. One aspect of President Yudof’s plan that should be approved is $822 for a year, an amount which pales in comparison to the $10,302 families will still have to cover.

Such desperate times call for desperate measures, so UC administrators will likely pass the proposed fee increase in a short-term attempt to alleviate the symptoms of a malnourished system. While the expansion of financial aid bears good news for those who qualify for it, the fee increases compound to the struggles of middle-class families who need relief from the endless barrage of fee and tuition increases.

The state of California is to blame for its short-sighted handling of the budget crisis, and the best solution is the only solution: more investment from the state in higher education.

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