In his 2004-05 budget proposal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seeks further hikes for UC student fees.

The budget proposal for the upcoming year released Friday would increase mandatory in-state undergraduate student tuition by 10 percent, from $4,984 per year to $5,482 per year. Out of state undergraduate students would see their tuition increase by 20 percent, from $13,730 per year to $16,476 per year. For in-state graduate students, tuition would jump by 40 percent, from $5,219 per year to $7,307 per year. Out of state [[Out-of-state]] graduate students would face a 22 percent fee increase, from $12,245 per year to $14,991 per year. At the budget’s presentation on Friday in Sacramento, Schwarzenegger said previous budgets by former governor Gray Davis were shell games.

“This budget will make reductions,” the governor said at the budget’s presentation Friday. “As I said in my State of the State Address, if we do not control the spending today, we will put every program at risk tomorrow and California will be bankrupt.”

In addition to tuition increases, the budget would also reduce financial aid. In previous fee increases, 33 percent of the revenue was used to provide financial aid to students whose parents made between $60,000 and $90,000 a year. Schwarzenegger’s budget would reduce the amount of revenue spent on financial aid to 20 percent. The number of freshman students admitted to UC for the fall would also drop by 10 percent, or about 3,200 students, if approved.

In a letter sent Friday to UC staff and faculty, UC President Robert Dynes said the budget cuts proposed “will have a very real impact on what this institution is able to accomplish for the people of California.”

“I intend to work with the governor, the Legislature, and the Board of Regents to minimize these cuts and their impact, and to seek restoration of funding as the economy improves,” he said in the letter.
– Nexus staff report