University of California regents have tentatively approved a plan to increase tuition until the 2019-2020 school year, angering students across UC campuses.

The proposal, which regents considered on November 19 and 20, would increase UC tuition by five percent each year until the 2019-2020 school year. UC tuition, which currently stands at $12,804, would be brought to $15,564.

The debate over tuition has created a face-off between UC President Janet Napolitano, who has pushed for the hikes, and California Governor Jerry Brown, who is fiercely opposed to them.

In an interview with Here and Now on NPR Radio, Napolitano blamed a lack of state funding for the tuition increases.

“California, like virtually every other state, drastically cut funding for public higher education in the great recession, but, in point of fact, in California for many years the state had been reducing the amount it was putting into the University of California even while we were increasing enrollment,” Napolitano said.

However, Brown argues that the proposed hikes violate an agreement between the state and the UCs. According to Brown, the UCs had promised to keep tuition at 2011-2012 levels – for all students, including out-of-state and international students – as long as the state provided increased funding.

Napolitano denies that such a deal was ever concrete. She further claims that the funding increases from the state are not enough and that Brown did not properly allocate funds from Proposition 30 to the schools.

At the regents’ meeting on November 19, Brown suggested that the UCs be more creative and look at other way to make their budget work.

“I do think there’s enough money… and that’s why I’m going to vote against the 5 percent tuition [increases],” Brown said at the meeting. “I don’t think

The proposed tuition hikes have triggered protests on UC campuses. On November 20, the day of the regent vote on the campus of UC San Francisco, protesting students linked arms to prevent the regents from entering and caused ruckus throughout the meeting – though they cheered when Brown and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, who is also opposed to the hikes, arrived. Then during the meeting, protestors chanted, “Hey ho, Napolitano has got to go.”

UC Berkeley sophomore Avyay Panchapakesan expressed unhappiness over the proposal but was also understanding about the need for more revenue.
“The administration can’t really do anything about the fact that costs are rising each year. Until the state government decides it wants to invest more in higher education, tuition increases are inevitable.” said Panchapakesan.

Another controversy has arisen over the use of the incoming revenue from the tuition hikes. In July, the UCs approved a plan to raise salaries for the majority of the Senior Management Group – which includes chancellors and high-level executives – by three percent. In September, regents approved another plan to award salary increases of as much as 20 percent to four other chancellors. This is in an effort to remain competitive with private universities, who can afford to offer their faculty far more lucrative jobs.

A July 17, 2014 report from the UC Committee on Compensation states, “The inconsistency associated with the lack of a regular salary program at UC has created reputational issues with regard to the University’s compensation practices, making it difficult to recruit and retain people for senior leadership positions.”

According to the same report, Senior Management Group salaries have not seen an increase since 2007. Meanwhile, salaries in the same market increased by 18.7 percent nationwide. The report ties this salary disparity to the loss of three chancellors within the last 18 months.

However, opponents of the hikes argue that the business issues of the UCs should not be put on the shoulders of college students who are simply trying to get an education.

At a regents’ meeting, Brown said, “I’m quite confident people will get very excited about an institution that has a moral depth that transcends the vagaries of the marketplace.”

“The University of California cannot bestow pay raises to its top earners with one hand, while continually taking more from students and their families with the other,” Newsom said in a statement.

But in the NPR interview, Napolitano denied that salary increases drove the effort for tuition increases.

“We trimmed over $660 million out of our budget, we’ve actually reduced the number of administrators and we’ve reduced overall administrative compensation,” Napolitano said.

The administration of the UCs further claim that low and middle-class students will not bear the burden of the tuition hikes – that will go to wealthier and out-of-state students, the latter now making up 20 percent of UC freshmen.

Due to the Middle Class Scholarship program, which would offer scholarships of up to 40 percent of tuition and fees for students from families making between $80,000 and $150,000, the UCs state that most students will be paying less than before.

If the proposed hikes are, as OPUSD Superintendent Tony Knight put it, a “ploy to get the state to kick in more money,” it has worked. California Senate Democrats have unveiled a funding plan that would increase higher education spending by $156 million and increase tuition for out-of-state students while calling for a continuation of the tuition freeze. However, the Democrats’ plan would give more money to the UCs than Brown would prefer and would end the Middle Class Scholarship program.

At Oak Park High School, students – many of them prospective UC students – expressed their disappointment over the hikes.

Junior Cole Hasserjian, who is interested in attending UC Berkeley, pointed out that the UCs have a lot of room to cut costs.

“With all these UCs, you see a lot of renovations,” said Hasserjian. “If they want to pay the faculty more, then build less stuff.”

Senior Lynn Wang was likewise unhappy.

“The situation is unfortunate,” Wang said. “I hope a compromise can be reached between maintaining quality education and keeping tuition costs reasonable.”

In a statement to the Talon, Knight emphasized the need for a better solution.

“I think the UCs need to do what K-12 public schools have had to do, and that is to trim their budgets to match the available funding,” Knight said. “Moderate tuition increases should be a part of the solution but imposing tuition hikes such as those being proposed, that make attending a UC more difficult for California students, should not be considered.”