The High Cost of Higher Education

An NBC Bay Area Editorial and Your Feedback

Updated 2:44 PM PST, Fri, Oct 23, 2009

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The state's massive cuts to the University of California budget have impacted the lives of students, faculty and staff systemwide.

Teachers are facing furloughs and paycuts, and students are set to face their 9th tuition increase in 8 years. Over 225,000 students, and 19,000 faculty call the UC system home.

In this editorial, we discuss the real cost facing us in the future, if we don't act today.

Original Editorial - The High Cost of Higher Education

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The San Jose Mercury News: "With expenses rising Calfornia college kids have another way to get a great education"

The Daily Californian Online: "The Breaking Point"

The Daily Californian Online: "UC Public Education No Longer Affordable"

The Daily Californian Online: "UC Regents to Consider Raising Fees"

UC Regents approve 2009-10 student fees

UC Newsroom: "UC unrestricted net assets: myths and facts"
Peter Taylor, CFO, University of California

The Sacramento Bee Editorial: "Ticked Off profs punish students"

Los Angeles Times: "UC Regents approve student fee increase"

SF Gate: "Walkout called over UC budget cuts"

AAUP CBC Executive Committee Resolution

Keeping California's Promise- "Privatization is The Issue"
George Lakoff- Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, UC Berkeley

UC Faculty Walkout: To read the letter signed by faculty throughout the UC system

University of California, UC Newsroom: "UC Regents discuss budget, possible fee increases."

University of California, UC Newsroom: "Campuses sweep top spots in college rankings"

University of California, UC Newsroom: "Furlough Program begins across UC"

University of California, UC Newsroom: "UC transaction with state of California"

Univeristy of California statistics regarding state funding, fee increases, and financial aid support:
- General Funds Report
- Estimated Change in Undergraduate Net Fee Costs
- Undergraduate Pell Grant Recipients

First Published: Sep 18, 2009 5:29 PM PST

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0 Comments

{"totSize":6,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"391809_59800517","adminTags":null,"views":1901,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"The High Cost of Higher Education","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2171947,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"23 Sep 2009 02:05:58 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"941061","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I have heard that the student to staff ratio in the UC system is about 1.5:1. If that is true, then the sheer waste of resources is criminal!!! The primary (and only) purpose of UC's should be to offer quality education and NOT employment to hundreds of thousands of people..."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"391809_59800517","adminTags":null,"views":1901,"createdBy":12903720,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"The High Cost of Higher Education","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2171947,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"23 Sep 2009 02:11:09 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"LILAllStaro7","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"941088","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I am sorry but the way that California is acting is absolutely ridiculous. I am a student who has dreamed of attending a one of California's prestigious Universities since I was a little child. I have put in all the work, tried to maintain a GPA that keeps me above others and acquire a test score high enough to get me in. Now I sit here today and here that the UCs want to cut back on the number of people form California who are accepted, as well as raise tuition costs. Coming from a lower middle class family, it would be nice to be the first to graduate from college, and bring a better future to my parents and family who have pulled for me. However, with the rise in tuition, and the fact that I am a White lower-middle class citizen( not trying to sound racist) my chances are not looking great. I wish that it was fair and that I could afford school, but in reality, all of the work that I have put in is going to be a waste because I can not afford the education that I need to be successful. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"391809_59800517","adminTags":null,"views":1901,"createdBy":12906514,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"The High Cost of Higher Education","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2171947,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"23 Sep 2009 04:53:48 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"sanjay","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"941752","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I am outraged at how UC executives are handling the budget cuts - especially when clear alternatives exist that would get UC through the recession without cutting services. ANY cut to staff at UC will be a cut to education or public services. Let's not forget that in addition to educating thousands of students, UC workers staff 5 major hospitals, the California Poison Control Center, County hospitals, and many many more things that all of us benefit from. We need a leadership change at UC and we need the state to fund education and higher education in California."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"391809_59800517","adminTags":null,"views":1901,"createdBy":12917355,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"The High Cost of Higher Education","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2171947,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"23 Sep 2009 15:46:42 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"fb_1484484412","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"943849","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Yes, it's great that people are starting to understand that UC needs to be funded appropriately, so our children can afford to attend and for the good of the state economy! I'm furious with the state legislature - we need big changes there. And UC, well they need to 'chop from the top', and bargain fairly with their unions - which they are not doing with UPTE-CWA 9119. 20yr Cancer Research Associate."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"391809_59800517","adminTags":null,"views":1901,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"The High Cost of Higher Education","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2171947,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"23 Sep 2009 20:08:19 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"946365","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"To the poster who says: The primary (and only) purpose of UC's should be to offer quality education and NOT employment to hundreds of thousands of people..." I do not know if the 1.5 to 1 ratio of students to staff that this person states is correct or not. What I do know is that UC is much more than instructors teaching students in classes. UC's preeminence in the world comes not just from great teaching and a great education but how that intersects with research, such as in science, engineering, and medicine as well as social science, public health, law, and business. So those "staff" include laboratory technicians, nurses, and so many other people involved in our research -- research and services that not only pay for themselves but also get taxed to support the university's educational missions. Furthermore, this research generates money, both for the UC through patents and research grants, for example, but also in the spin-off companies (high tech, biotech, etc.) that generate money for the state. Some of these staff also help provide some the world-famous level of health care available at UC medical centers (my sister just found out yesterday at UCLA that she *doesn't* have the horrible disease that her home-town doctors have been telling her for months she has; thank god for the UCLA medical center!). So, these staff members included in this ratio are NOT being paid for by the state with education funds. Not only that, but their employment is ultimately a net SOURCE of income for the UC and for the State of California. Overall, UC is a net money maker for the state. However, if the state is not willing to support education for undergraduates at these research universities, then it will effectively become a private system. And that will be a shame for California and its citizens."}],"error":"","totPages":2}