The results of Thursday's University of California Board of Regents meeting in which the board voted in favor of student fee hikes has drawn mixed reactions.
The board voted 17 to 4 in favor of a 9.3 percent student fee increase for the 2009-2010 school year, according to UC spokesman Ricardo Vazquez. For undergraduate students, that's an additional $662 each year.
The fee increase, Vazquez said, is consistent with the fee hike the state anticipated UC would enact as part of the state budget, which left UC with a cumulative state funding shortfall of $450 million.
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, a UC regent and California State University trustee, said he voted against the fee increase because it could be discouraging for students.
"We can call this a student fee ... but it's really yet another tax on students that discourages hard-working high school graduates from entering the University of California," Garamendi said in a statement.
Student fees have been increasing over the years and since 1990, student fees at UC and CSU have more than doubled, according to Garamendi.
UC President Mark Yudof said, however, there are many financial resources available to help cover the higher fees such as the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, which covers system wide fees for California residents whose families earn less than $60,000 a year and who qualify for financial aid.
Local
Another decision the UC Regents made Thursday approving six-figure salaries for two incoming chancellors has infuriated state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo.
According to Yee, Regents approved a $450,000 salary for incoming University of California at San Francisco Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellman, a 12-percent increase from the previous campus chancellor.
In addition, Yee said the Regents approved a $400,000 salary for incoming University of California at Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, a 27-percent increase from her predecessor.
