UC undergraduate fees decrease by 5 percent

Published: Monday, September 28, 1998

Monday, September 28, 1998

MONEY: Assembly Bill 1318 also lowers CSU, community college costs

By Dasol Kim

Daily Bruin Contributor

After surviving a staggering 134 percent increase in student fees earlier this decade, undergraduate college students have been able to breath easier the past four years, as student fees remained the same.

However, UC students can expect a 5 percent decrease in tuition costs this fall.

The passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 1318, the College Affordability Act of 1997, is responsible for the tuition decrease for UC undergraduates. This is the first decrease in UC student fees since 1984. The bill also promises a freeze in student fees in fall 1999. Through AB 1318, undergraduate tuition costs at all of the UC schools will be lowered to $3,609 from $3,799, and graduate and professional student fees will be frozen for the next two years.

Other parts of the bill include a 5 percent reduction in tuition fees for undergraduates at all California State Universities and a $1 cut, from $13 to $12 per unit, at all California community colleges.

Assemblywoman Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, who wrote the bill, also introduced a bill that proposes a 5 percent decrease in tuition costs for graduate and professional students, which is currently sitting on Gov. Pete Wilson's desk.

"That bill will do for the graduate students what AB 1318 did for undergraduate students," said Kevin McCarty, spokesman for Ducheny.

According to a study published by the California Higher Education Policy Center in 1997, student debt doubled between 1990 and 1995.

The fees affected in the bill are system-wide fees, which are set by the State Legislature and are consistent at every UC school.

Fees paid by students at UC schools are two-fold: system-wide fees, which are affected by AB 1318, and campus fees, which are unique to each campus.

According to Carol Sypher, senior strategic planning and program analyst for the UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget, system-wide fees are set by the UC Board of Regents. In recent years, the regents have given their presentation to the legislature asking to increase fees. However, the state has opted to provide additional funding in the past few years to the UCs so fee increases would not be necessary.

"Most students refer to the entire package of fees as the 'registration fees,' but that is incorrect," Sypher said.

The registration fee, which specifically funds student services at UCLA, and the educational fee are two separate fees. Together, along with selected graduate student fees, these make up the system-wide fee, Sypher said.

The university registration fees collected from UCLA students go only to UCLA student programs, not to any other UC school student programs.

The educational fee helps fund various university programs and is determined by the UC Office of the President (UCOP).

"(The educational fee is) vitally important for campuses and is used, for example, for faculty salaries, academic program support and general uses by the campus," said Rick Malaspina, interim director of news and communication for UCOP.

"A third of total fees, registration and educational fees goes back to students in the form of financial aid," he added.

Fees for selected professional school students, such as medical and business school students, are also imposed by the regents in order to fund financial aid and to support the quality of academic programs at professional schools.

The chancellor allocates the funds given by UCOP from the monies collected through the university-wide fee, and the Student Fee Advisory Committee (SFAC) advises the chancellor how to spend this money.

SFAC also advises the chancellor on the institution of new fees and the revision of existing fees, which are known as campus-based fees.

Campus-based fees, which must be approved by both the chancellor and the regents, are only paid by students of that campus.

University-wide fees are paid by students from all nine UC campuses and are distributed by UCOP, whereas the campus-based fees are only paid by a single university for university-specific needs.

These fees may be either compulsory or voluntary. Compulsory fees may be set or increased after students vote in a referendum. Following the vote, final approval by the chancellor and the regents is necessary in order for the fee to be instituted.

Campus-based fees for all students this year increased $3, a miniscule amount in comparison to the $43.50 surge of last year.

No other university-wide fees experienced a hike because of AB 1318, except for a $400 increase in non-resident tuition.

"We're just trying to make college a little more affordable," McCarty added.

Related sites:

• UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget

• University of California Home Page

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