Contra Costa Times articles on higher education - Part II

University fee freeze applauded

By Matt Krupnick, Times Staff Writer
January 11, 2006

Students and university officials on Tuesday hailed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to prevent a fifth straight year of student fee increases.

Bowing to pressure from students and Democratic lawmakers, Schwarzenegger requested that the state pay more than $125 million to the University of California and California State University systems to make up money that would have come from higher fees. The two systems had planned to raise fees 8 percent for undergraduates and 10 percent for most graduate students.

"This is a huge turnaround," said Jennifer Reimer, chairwoman of the California State Student Association, which represents Cal State students. "It's definitely a step in the right direction."

If approved by the Legislature, the plan would cap a movement that included tearful student pleas last fall. Protesters from the 33 state university campuses asked education officials to freeze rapidly rising costs to relieve increasing debt burdens, and state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez also urged fellow UC regents to hold off on next year's planned fee hike.

University leaders had countered that they were obliged to raise fees as part of an agreement with Schwarzenegger that guaranteed annual funding increases to the two systems, which educate more than 600,000 students.

Some students expressed skepticism about Schwarzenegger's proposal.

"It's probably just a political ploy to get re-elected," said Mihai Giurgiulescu, a 22-year-old UC Berkeley undergraduate. "If he's re-elected, he'll raise the fees again."

Officials at both systems said they were pleased by the fee proposal, but UC leaders criticized Schwarzenegger for eliminating two hard-fought items from his budget: $17 million for university outreach programs and about $3 million for two labor-studies centers.

The governor also cut outreach, which helps K-12 students prepare for college, from last year's budget, but allowed temporary funding after an intense UC lobbying effort. Schwarzenegger vetoed the labor-studies funding at the last minute last year, leading Democrats to call the cut a political game.

Schwarzenegger said last year he vetoed the labor program because it went beyond the UC funding agreement, and he and other Republicans have questioned the effectiveness of university outreach programs.

Lawmakers and UC officials said Tuesday they plan to push Schwarzenegger to fund both programs in the final state budget.

"It's just a little disappointing that we'll have to go back and put that funding back in," said Richard Stapler, a Nunez spokesman. "It's disappointing, but not surprising."

Matt Krupnick covers higher education. Reach him at 925-943-8246 or mkrupnick@cctimes.com.