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May 26, 2004
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA STUDENTS AND PARENTS
Dear Friends:
I first wrote you in March to report on my progress in securing
State funding for the University's operations. As you know, California
has been grappling with a serious budget gap for 2004-05 and the
University has been facing the likelihood of deep funding cuts for
a fourth consecutive year.
I am pleased to report that the revised budget released by the
Governor in mid-May includes no additional cuts to the University
beyond those proposed in January. Nonetheless, those cuts remain
significant—more than $350 million—and, as expected, will
require higher student fees to help close the gap. However, there
is some good news in the way fees will be set in coming years, which
should provide more predictability to UC families.
First, let me address this year's increases. While the Governor
and Legislature are still negotiating a 2004-05 State budget and
likely will not finish until early summer, the Board of Regents
felt it was important to notify you about fee increases as soon
as possible, based on our best information about the likely budget
outcome. As a result:
- Mandatory systemwide fees for California resident undergraduates
in 2004-05 will increase $700 (14 percent) to $5,684, beginning
this summer. Each UC campus also charges its own local fees, which
brings the average total to $6,230.
- The fee increase for resident graduate academic students,
originally proposed at 40 percent, has been halved to 20 percent.
These graduate students will pay an additional $1,050, bringing
their annual fees to $6,269 (or an average of $7,893 with campus
fees included).
- Nonresident students will see comparable increases ($700
and $1,050, respectively) in mandatory systemwide fees, as well
as a 20 percent increase in nonresident tuition ($2,746 more for
undergraduates and $2,449 for academic graduate students). This
tuition, which is paid in addition to mandatory systemwide fees,
brings the average total to $23,186 for out-of-state undergraduates
and $22,832 for graduate students.
- Professional school fees will increase roughly 30 percent
for each degree program, with Nursing students exempt at the State's
request. These fee increases range from $2,600 to $4,500. Specific
amounts for each school are available at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget/fee_fact_sheet.pdf
[36K PDF]. Because these increases
only replace lost State revenue and do not address other needs
in the professional schools, the Regents also authorized the president
to raise professional school fees no more than an additional 10
percent if needed to support financial aid and the academic quality
of the programs.
Financial aid will lessen some of the impact of these fees. The
Governor's revised budget proposes enough funding for the State's
Cal Grant program to cover this year's 14 percent undergraduate
fee increase for roughly 32,000 UC recipients. In addition, the
University is using a portion of the revenue from the 2004-05 fee
increase for grant aid to further ease the impact for the most financially
needy students.
I know fee increases are never welcome. For those of you already
attending the University, the last two years of State budget cuts
have meant steep and unexpected hikes in fees. Those of you just
beginning your UC careers have shared with me your worries about
what the next four years may bring.
That is why, in my discussions with State leaders, I have stressed
the necessity of stable State support for public higher education
in California. And as a result, we have forged a new, multi-year
compact with the Governor that will stabilize State support for
the University and allow families to actually plan for their education
costs in a way they haven't been able to for the past few years.
When I started as president six months ago, the University already
had seen student fees jump 40 percent in just two years. Our State
funding had been cut 16 percent, while our student enrollment had
grown 16 percent. For the first time, the University was forced
to defer admission to qualified California high school seniors and
redirect them to California community colleges for their first two
years. The State was asking us to prepare for more cuts, and there
was no assurance or plan for turning around these fiscal trends.
My greatest concern was that the quality of a UC education was at
risk.
What this compact with the Governor does is stop the decline. We
have one final year of difficult budgets and then a substantial
improvement over the next five to six years. The compact gives the
University predictable enrollment growth. It calls for fee increases
over the next three years to help the University recover from recent
budget cuts, but would limit those increases to make costs more
predictable. Specifically, in addition to this year's increases,
the compact calls for undergraduate fees to grow 8 percent in both
2005-06 and 2006-07 (resulting in a three-year average of 10 percent
per year), with undergraduate fee increases in future years indexed
to increases in per capita personal income and restricted to no
more than 10 percent per year. The compact calls for graduate student
fees to increase 10 percent per year in both 2005-06 and 2006-07.
There are two Web sites that can provide you with additional information.
One called "You Can – We Can Help" (www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/payingforuc/youcan/)
shows how UC students with a variety of family incomes have made
a UC education affordable. The most recent budget updates can be
found at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget.
I appreciate the opportunity to stay in touch with you as we work
to build a stronger financial foundation—one that will help
the University and its families plan for the future with more certainty
and will provide the best educational opportunities for our students.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Dynes
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