Governor would raise fees, cut access and aid

[HARDCORE]

By Eleanor Yang
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 10, 2004

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would cut off access to California public universities for more than 23,000 students, increase student fees for a third straight year and reduce financial aid for middle-income families.

The governor, whose cuts attempt to reduce a $15 billion budget deficit, addressed access with a proposal to shift thousands of freshmen accepted to the University of California and California State University to community college for their first two years.

As with some of Schwarzenegger's other proposals ? including his announcement Tuesday that he wants to place a 10 percent cap on annual tuition increases ? university officials said the benefit and practicality of capping tuition and shuffling students to the community colleges will depend on the details, which are still unavailable.

While some educators said the cuts weren't as bad as expected, they lamented how similar the scenario is to the economic crisis in the early 1990s, when tens of thousands of college students were turned away from classes, while students coped with double-digit fee hikes.

"It's the same thing happening all over again," CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said.

Reed said he is concerned that proposed cuts to the CSU system of $240 million, roughly 6 percent of its total budget, would limit access to 20,000 eligible students and eliminate outreach programs for low-income and minority students.

The proposed $372 million in cuts at the UC system, which represents about 2.7 percent of its total budget, would cut freshman enrollment by 3,200 students, eliminate outreach programs, cut funding for faculty by $35 million and cut research funding by 5 percent, or $11.6 million.

"The continuing trend of reduced state funding for UC makes me deeply concerned about our ability to deliver on the promise that the University of California has always represented for the people of California," UC President Robert Dynes said in a statement.

Proposed fee increases for undergraduate, graduate and nonresident students elicited similar concerns.

Fees for UC and CSU graduate students would increase by about 30 percent, bringing UC fees to $8,931 per year. At CSU campuses, graduate students would pay $3,682.

"I think that it is frustrating," said Eric Frechette, president of UCSD's Graduate Student Association. "The tuition hike will mean the quality of UC graduate students will decrease."

Steve Boilard, an analyst at the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, said any increase greater than 10 percent might not be feasible for students.

The governor has proposed 10 percent fee increases for UC and CSU undergraduates. At UC schools, that would mean an additional $498, or $6,028 per year. UC officials said that including the proposed increase, UC fees lag behind the average $7,423 price tag at comparable public institutions.

At CSU schools, the 10 percent increase would bring undergraduate costs to $2,776, still considerably lower than fees at comparison institutions, which averaged $5,272 for the current academic year.

Schwarzenegger has proposed hiking community college fees from $18 to $26 per unit, which amounts to a 44 percent increase. Administrators say it's too steep considering how fees have ballooned in the past year.

Financial aid also has raised concerns. In addition to proposed decreases in financial-aid allocations at UC and CSU campuses, tighter qualifications in the Cal Grant program will hit middle-income families in their pocketbooks. The maximum qualifying income for Cal Grant recipients is proposed to drop 10 percent.