UC’s first student fee increases in eight years are set to take place this spring and more fee increases are proposed by the governor for 2003-04. In Dateline today, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef discusses various aspects of the fees.
Q. What is the student fee increase that will be occurring at UC Davis this spring?
Vanderhoef : The fees are disturbing to everyone. However, to help address state budget reductions and protect the core instructional program from cuts, the UC Board of Regents has approved an increase in mandatory systemwide student fees of $135 per quarter, or $405 on an annualized basis, beginning with the spring quarter at the end of March. This will be the first such fee increase for our students in eight years.
Q. What about next year?
Vanderhoef: Unfortunately, matters al-most certainly will get worse before they get better. Further student fee increases in 2003-04 are likely given the severity of the state’s budget situation and the University’s commitment to protecting student instructional programs from cuts. The governor’s budget proposal for 2003-04 includes a $179 million cut that assumes this gap will be filled by a student fee increase. Under the budget’s assumptions, mandatory systemwide student fees at UC would be increased in 2003-04, on top of the already-approved $405 annual increase described above, by $795 for resident undergraduates and $855 for resident graduate academic students. The cumulative increase for both the 2002-03 and 2003-04 years could be as much as 35 percent. However, the UC regents will not set actual student fee levels for 2003-04 until later this spring.
Q. Why is this happening?
Vanderhoef: The state is facing a budget deficit of unprecedented size, resulting in major budget cuts across state government. UC’s $3 billion state-funded budget, under the governor’s proposal for next year, will be nearly $1 billion below the university’s basic funding requirements that were agreed to by the Governor four years ago. This shortfall consists of both actual cuts to UC programs and forgone funding for UC faculty and staff salary increases and other cost increases. To get through this difficult period, UC Davis is looking to a balanced package of solutions; deep cuts are now being taken in most areas of the campus’s budget. Our highest priority is to maintain student access and student services. I hope we are able to do a good job at this, but this budget situation is not good.
Q. How much of the budget problem is being addressed through student fees?
Vanderhoef: Similar to the recession of the early 1990s, student fee increases will probably handle about 20 percent of the total cut that the university has to absorb. The student fee increases assumed in the governor’s budget proposal would net $179.1 million in revenue, a fraction of the university’s $956.8 million budget shortfall. More than 80 percent of the solution would come through further cuts to university programs (in areas including administration, libraries, research, educational outreach, teacher professional development, student services, and public service) and through lagging salaries for faculty and staff, including the lower-than-expected salary increases they have seen for the last two years.
Q. What are UC student fees now?
Vanderhoef: Mandatory systemwide student fees have not increased at UC since 1994-95; in fact, in the late 1990s they fell 10 percent for resident undergraduates and 5 percent for resident graduate academic students. Right now, full-year systemwide fees are $3,429 for resident undergraduates and $3,609 for resident graduate academic students. Miscellaneous UC Davis-specific fees, most of them voted for by students, add another $684 to that total. That will, of course, change come March.
Q. Why can’t we redirect some of the fees recently approved by students for athletics and other programs so that registration fees don’t rise further?
Vanderhoef: The referendum that was voted on by students in November provides benefits primarily to students, for example for students who will be visiting the Student Health Center and student athletes. The election determined those measures should be enacted, and fortunately that fee will increase only slowly, reaching its maximum in four or five years. It is not possible to direct those student-approved funds to areas covered by mandatory university fees.
Q. If fees are going to increase, why did UC Davis go ahead and build the Mondavi Center, begin construction on a new Recreation Hall and all of these other building projects going on around campus?
Vanderhoef: This is a question that will be very frequently asked as the budget situation worsens. The funding for construction of new facilities isn’t handled like the regular annual budget. For instance, every few years an initiative goes on the statewide election ballot that asks the people of California to commit to funding new buildings and improvements on all of the state’s campuses. Usually, voters say "yes." Last November Proposition 47 passed to provide bond funding for buildings, including here at UC Davis. Students have also voted to charge themselves for new buildings, such as the new Recreation Hall under construction now. And still other funding for buildings comes from sources other than the state. Mondavi Center was largely built with gifts to the university for that purpose.
Q. How will students and their families be assisted with the fee increases?
Vanderhoef: Two-thirds of UC Davis students receive financial aid – more than half of it in the form of grants that do not have to be repaid. One-third of the revenue from any fee increase will be returned directly to financial aid to lessen the impact on lower-income families. Cal Grants also will increase proportionally. The aid is not distributed equally among undergraduates and graduates, but in general, students with less than $60,000 in annual family income will not be affected by fee increases. Stu-dents receiving Cal Grants or UC financial aid grants (as opposed to loans) also should not feel the impact of a student fee increase.
Q. What about professional school fees?
Vanderhoef: The regents approved quarterly increases in student fees for professional schools of $485 for veterinary medicine, and $535 in medicine, business and law. The governor’s proposal for 2003-04 assumes these professional school fees will rise further in fall 2003.
Q. What is happening in other states?
Vanderhoef: Many public universities across the United States have been forced to raise student fees and may do so again next year. Student fees for 2002-03 alone have increased (over 2001-02 levels) by 20.8 percent at the University of Kansas; 19.8 percent at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; 16 percent at the University of Washington; 16 percent at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; 13.6 percent at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; 13.6 percent at the University of Missouri, Columbia; and 13.5 percent at Pennsylvania State University, to cite a few examples. These figures are from an annual survey conducted by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; full results of the survey are available at http://www.nasulgc.org/.
Q. How do our fees compare with similar universities around the country?
Vanderhoef: The fees here at UC Davis may seem overly expensive, though by some measures they are not. No UC campus ranks above the number 34 in fees among the top 50 universities in the country. For example, annual fees are $5,240 at the University of Minnesota, $8,008 at Pennsylvania State University, and $4,455 at the University of Washington – all campuses that saw large increases this year.
Q. Where can I get more information?
Vanderhoef: We have a UC Davis Web site that will post regular updates and the latest budget information at: http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/budget/.