The Regents of the University of California are set to raise undergrad tuition by 32 percent, the NYTimes is reporting.

While this is an astronomical amount and will likely hurt a lot of California families who got extremely inexpensive access to a incredibly high-caliber education, I think the cuts are probably the best route to go. The UCs suffered steep state-funding slashes this year, as the state’s budget was squeezed for all it’s worth. So far, the school’s had furlough days, hiring freezes, and employee layoffs. Classes have been cancelled and in-state students are already getting shafted in favor of higher-paying out-of-staters. While I think it’s an incredible loss to the state and the country that one of the last fabulous public schools is going through this, I wonder if their economic model was truly sustainable. They were, and are, essentially providing a private education to the masses at a mass-produced price. There’s a reason why private schools charge so much, and it actually ain’t elitism. While I hope that the UC’s aid programs will continue to increase so students so students from lower socioeconomic groups can afford the education – which is still comparatively low, at just over $10,000 — I think it was the right move, and still qualifies as an affordable high-quality education. Thoughts?

Tags: University of California

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 4:27 pm and is filed under University finances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.