University of Calfornia considering tuition hike

After a six-year freeze, tuition and fees at University of California campuses may soon be going up.

According to a release on the University of California website, the UC Board of Regents is considering a $282 tuition increase and a new $54 student service fee, effective in the fall of the 2017-18 academic year.

The university says the tuition hike – UC’s first increase in tuition since 2011 – is needed to offset rising enrollment and recession-era state funding cuts.

The university website says the higher fees would allow campuses to hire more faculty, boost academic counseling, tutoring and mental health services, and improve support for graduate students and teaching assistants.

University officials say financial aid would cover the increase for two-thirds of the system’s undergraduates.

“More than half of California undergraduates have all of their tuition and fees completely covered by financial aid,” said UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein. “That will continue to be the case.”

Klein said a third of the tuition increase would be used for need-based student aid. The remaining revenue would be used to improve services for all of UC’s roughly 252,000 students.

“These are improvements that students themselves say are needed, and which we believe are necessary to ensure timely graduation and a positive student experience,” Klein said.

The UC Board of Regents will consider the proposed fee increases at its meeting in early February.