Ongoing negotiations between UC President Janet Napolitano and Gov. Jerry Brown have resulted in an agreement that will cap UC resident tuition for the next two years and increase state allocations by 4 percent, or $120 million, over the next four years. In addition, out-of-state tuition will increase by 8 percent each year.
The agreement will also provide a one-time infusion of $436 million over three years for UC’s pension obligations from the state’s rainy-day fund. An additional $25 million will each go to building maintenance and energy efficiency. These terms will be incorporated into the governor’s revised state budget, which will move to the state legislature for final deliberations until June.
The additional two-year tuition cap will continue the UC’s four-year streak of freezing tuition at $12,192 per year. The increase, now scheduled for the 2017-18 academic year, will seek to expand class enrollment, increase graduation rates and allow the university to maintain its financial aid program. Approved in Nov. 2014, supplemental tuition for professional degrees will also increase by 5 percent for five years, but will not include the UC’s four law schools.
“While the framework meets the regents’ goals of providing budget stability and predictability, it does not allocate funds for the UC priority of boosting enrollment of California students,” said a UC press release.
The UC initially requested $220 million to support expanding student enrollment and services, and threatened to increase tuition and cap out-of-state enrollment at certain UCs unless this amount was provided.
The terms of agreement will be presented during the UC Board of Regents meeting from May 21-22 at UC San Francisco Mission Bay.
