The University of California Regents postponed its vote regarding tuition increases and will instead continue to lobby for full funding by the state, according to a statement released Thursday by the University of California Office of the President (UCOP).

The Regents originally scheduled the vote for its May meeting but delayed the vote until after the budget negotiations in Sacramento, whose outcome will determine if UC will implement a 2.7 percent tuition increase for the 2018-19 school year.  

“Raising tuition is always a last resort and one we take very seriously. We will continue to advocate with our students… to ensure UC remains a world-class institution and engine of economic growth for our state,” UC President Janet Napolitano said in a press release.

Depending on the results of the budget negotiations, the “modest” tuition increase will be covered by financial aid for more than half of UC’s in-state students, according to the statement.

UC students have partnered with UC faculty to advocate for an additional $140 million dollars on top of the three percent state budget increase proposed by Governor Jerry Brown in his 2018 California State Budget Plan.

This increase is lower than UC expected after Brown and Napolitano’s previous negotiation, according to a January press release by Napolitano and Regents Chair George Kieffer.

In 2015, Napolitano issued a statement saying that as of the 2015-16 school year, UC would “enter an era of increased State funding and financial stability that we all can celebrate.

This new tuition hike, if approved, will be used to combat “unprecedented enrollment growth, increases in instruction and student services, and pressing deferred maintenance needs,” according to UCOP.  

UC enrolls 90,000 more students than it did in 2000, but will receive the same level of funding by the state, according to the statement put out by UCOP. The Regents are appealing to the legislators by claiming that the students today deserve the same level of educational experience that previous generations have had.

“UC is hopeful that increased state funding will eliminate the need for a tuition increase,” UCOP stated in a press release.

The deadline for Brown’s budget approval is in June and UCOP predicts that negotiations about the state budget will continue up until then.

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