California is home to the best Public Universities in the country. The University of California (UC) system is ranked as the best of the best in studies ranging all the way from Biological to Political sciences. So they must be doing something right.
Surprisingly enough, UCs pride themselves on being able to admit the most economically challenged students of any higher education system. But these trends of good fortune for UCs might be threatened through rising tuition rates.
The University is basically a business, sponsored by the State of California. It's run by a board of managers called "The UC Regents" which makes budget decisions, including tuition rates. Janet Napolitano - former Governor of Arizona and Homeland Security Secretary under the Obama Administration - is the President of Regents and says that tuition rates must go up unless the University receives more State funding.
Currently the state of California's budget appropriates $12.5 billion to higher education, which seems like a lot, but it won't cover rising retirement costs for University employees as well as other deficits.
The answer lies in one of two strategies that the UC Regents have proposed. The first is to raise tuition 5 percent per year for five years which the news media is calling a 28 percent increase. The second strategy is to receive more funding from the state, which is the solution that the Regents are actually pushing for.
The reputation of UC Students having a voice in the matters of their education precedes them.
Okay we need more funding for higher education from the State, but where does it come from? And, wait a second, what happened to the funding that was supposed to come from Proposition 30 in 2012? I remember the March in March in Sacramento when we stood on the capitol steps and told our representatives how valuable affordable education is here in California. I feel like these efforts fell onto deaf ears.
Take a look at the State's budget for this year and you be the judge. This leaves us with more questions than answers and the motivation is to stir the pot. We are the ones that pay taxes here in California, WE are the students, something must be done or the plateauing prestige and steady decline of UCs is sure to begin.
