Dear Commons Community,

In another sign that public university systems are being squeezed and are passing costs onto students, UC President Janet Napolitano proposed a 5 percent tuition increase for each of the next five years. As reported by the Associated Press:

Tuition at the University of California’s 10 campuses would increase by as much as 5 percent in each of the next five years under a plan UC President Janet Napolitano is expected to present to the system’s governing board Thursday.

The proposal follows three years in which tuition rates have remained frozen. It would increase the average annual cost of a UC education for California residents pursuing undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees in academic as opposed to professional disciplines from $12,192 to up to $12,804 next fall and $15,564 in fall 2019, according to a copy of the plan provided in advance to The Associated Press.

Napolitano said the five-year framework fulfills a goal she set when she assumed the president’s office last year of making “modest” tuition hikes a predictable part of the university’s budget so families and campuses can know what to expect and plan accordingly.”

Other large public systems such as CUNY and SUNY are in the middle of similar tuition increases.

Tony