SAN FRANCISCO_University of California regents on Thursday approved the first cut in tuition in nearly two decades and decided to again take on the issue of how many nonresident students should be enrolled as they wrapped up a two-day meeting in San Francisco.
Regents approved an $8.7-billion spending plan for 2018-19 that includes a $60 decrease in tuition _ the result of eliminating a surcharge added in 2007 to pay for legal bills. The action lowered base tuition and fees to $12,570 annually.
Regent Sherry Lansing said it was one of the most exciting votes she has ever taken after so many painful years of raising tuition.
"I so enthusiastically endorse this budget, she said. "I hope and I pray it's the first of a new trend."
Thanks to overflowing state coffers, California Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators increased UC's funding by nearly $347 million. But the governor, citing the need for fiscal prudence, insisted that two-thirds of the money be provided as temporary, one-time allocations rather than permanent funding.
The proposed budget includes money to add 2,000 California undergraduates and 500 graduate students this fall. It also provides $111 million for pay hikes and increases of $35 million to repair and maintain aging facilities, $15.5 million for financial aid, $4.7 million for mental health services, and contributions to the UC retirement plan and health benefits.
"After we fought so hard to increase state funding and stop a tuition hike, this month's tuition rollback is icing on the cake," said Varsha Sarveshwar, a University of California, Berkeley student and UC Student Association board member who helped lead the lobbying.
Regents also made clear that the sticky debate over how many nonresident students should be admitted to UC is far from over.
UC regents already have phased out financial aid for nonresidents, capped their enrollment and this year raised their tuition amid political backlash and a scathing state audit that accused them of taking too many out-of-state and international students at the expense of Californians.
But regents plan to reopen the question of nonresident students this year. Are there too many? Are they too concentrated at too few campuses? Are they enhancing or diluting economic, racial and ethnic diversity?
The issue is fraught with emotion, political sensitivities and conflicting ideas _ all of which were evident at an academic affairs committee meeting this week.
"The presence of international students is critical to the life of any university," said Regent Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who heads the California Community College system. "We do need to protect the interest of California students at a time when there's huge demand."
Board Chairman George Kieffer said he had mixed feelings about the issue _ wanting to place a priority on Californians without shutting out out-of-state and international students. "I sort of hear this echo of Make America First ... just hold up, close out and nobody else comes in," he said.
