UC Board Approves OKs Additional 9.6% Tuition Hike

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The University of California system on Thursday raised student tuition by another 9.6 percent for the upcoming school year in response to a sharp reduction in government support.

The UC Board of Regents approved the $1,068 tuition increase, which comes on top of a previously approved 8 percent hike for 2011-2012.

The full board vote followed the finance committee's approval earlier in the day.

Undergraduate and graduate tuition for California residents will rise to $12,192, which doesn't include room, board and roughly $1,000 in campus fees. That's $1,890, or 18 percent, more than what UC undergraduates paid this past academic year and more than three times what they paid a decade ago.

One third of the estimated new revenue will be used for financial aid.

UC officials say the additional tuition increase is needed because the 10-campus system faces a $1 billion budget shortfall caused by rising costs and a $650 million loss in government support in the recently approved state budget.

Even with the tuition increases, administrators say, the cost of a UC education is in line with that of comparable universities in Illinois, Michigan and Virginia -- and about one-third the sticker price of private institutions such as Stanford University or the University of Southern California.

The burden of higher tuition is expected to fall heaviest on middle-class students who don't qualify for financial aid.

Needy students from families earning less than $80,000 have all of their tuition covered by financial aid, and the tuition increase will be waived for one year for many students from families earning up to $120,000.

The UC system's move follows the California State University's decision Tuesday to raise tuition by 12 percent on top of a previously approved 10 percent increase.

Annual tuition for in-state CSU undergraduates will increase this fall to $5,472, not including room, board or campus fees averaging $950.