With declining state funding driving University of California tuition higher and higher in recent years, a group of students at UC Riverside is proposing an alternative student contribution plan that would allow students to pay for their education once they have a steady, post-graduation income.
The plan, called the UC Student Investment Proposal, would have students cease payments to the university and instead have them pay a percentage of their income after graduating and entering a career for the next 20 years, interest-free. The group behind the proposal, called Fix UC, is composed of members from the editorial board of UC Riverside’s student newspaper, The Highlander, and other student leaders at the Riverside campus.
UC Executive Vice President Nathan Brostrom and UC Vice President for Budget and Capital Resources Patrick Lenz will meet with students when they are at the Riverside campus for next week’s UC Board of Regents meeting to discuss the proposal, according to UC spokesperson Steve Montiel.
“We’re open to hearing and exploring all ideas,” Montiel said in an email.
Montiel added that the discussion is not on the agenda for the meeting.
Fix UC President and Highlander Editor-in-Chief Chris LoCascio said the idea came about last spring during the state’s budget crisis.
“As a member of editorial board for the Highlander we ultimately called for new ideas — an out-of-the box solution that attempted to address some of the root problems with funding for the UC,” he said. “We were just kind of dissatisfied with a lack of ideas and lack of action with everyone involved in the UC.”
UC Berkeley professor Robert Reich presented a similar idea in remarks to the UC Commission on the Future in 2010, according to Montiel.
LoCascio said the proposal encourages a lifelong relationship with the university.
“Having the UC backing you in the search for your career is really something you can’t put a price on,” he said.
The proposal also suggests that the UC change the current Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan to implement Fix UC’s plan. Under the proposal, the university’s financial aid program would also cease to exist entirely, and its funds would be dedicated elsewhere.
Although it is unclear whether the group will present its ideas at the upcoming board meeting, LoCascio said Fix UC’s role there is “still in development.”
“Whether or not this is something the regents decide to explore or implement I can’t say,” he said. “But regardless, I feel like this is extremely important and will get people to start to think about education in new ways.”
Damian Ortellado is the lead higher education reporter.
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Ha!! What a plan……lets call it a loan…what do you think?
The only concern I have here is that the job market may not be able to support people paying back a certain percentage of their full-time income. Interesting idea though, I would like to hear more discussion about the topic. I think when it comes to the UC Budget, there should be more out-of-the-box thinking, in addition to looking at other schools systems elsewhere in the world.
Obama’s economic record….FAIL,
yet Clowns posting here continually defend him…..LOL@their stupidity, ignorance, cluelessness.
Every day, the Obama’s government takes in $6 billion and spends $10 billion. This means that every day the Ofraudo spends $4 billion more dollars than he takes in.
The real unemployment rate is a jaw-dropping 11 percent. After almost 3 years, Oclown is still clueless.
Every fifth adult you pass on your way to work is now out of work thanks to Ofraudo’s failed policies.
College graduates are now 34% less likely to find a job under Oclownie than they were under President George W. Bush.
Every seventh person you pass on the sidewalk now relies on food stamps.
The ravages of the Obongo economy now mean that more Americans live under the federal poverty line than at any time in U.S. history since records have been kept.
Under The Empty Suit in Chief, every fifth child in America now lives in poverty.
I think Nisha is spot on here. This seems like a recipe for defaults.
I’m not so convinced about this being a recipe for defaults for a number of reasons. First, the actual cost is a percentage of the students income, so it scales up and down with that income. This goes a long way toward preventing the cost from being onerous, something the current system does not take into account at all.
Second, the same protections that are currently in place for student loans could be put in place for this. In a way, they would be there from the start if the fees were collected much the way taxes are currently (exactly what they do if you default on a student loan). Given those factors, I don’t think this particularly lends itself to default.
Sounds better than student loans! At least then the wealthy banks won’t live off of working and middle class people’s educations!
UC is the land of administrative FAIL.
Nearly 1,800 fewer students applied for transfers to the 10-campus university than a year ago despite a record 160,939 undergraduate applications overall, according to figures released Thursday. In contrast, applications for freshman positions increased 19 percent over last year. Administrators don’t know what’s going on here, why there are fewer people applying to transfer into the schools from the state’s community colleges. Krupnick: Higher education leaders were at a loss to explain the change in transfers. “We’re still exploring that,” said Kate Jeffery, the interim UC admissions director. She theorized that budget cuts made community-college students unable to get the classes they need to transfer. “We think the most likely explanation is a pipeline issue.” Um, here’s a thought: The University of California is $1,068 more expensive than it was last year. The total cost of tuition at a UC school is now $12,192 a year.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19730000
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/why_fewer_transfers_to_the_uni.php
What happened? Back in the day, it used to be free except for health fees.
Ronald Reagan and the Republicans
Nice try, Clownie. The Libs are the ones who haved turned Cali into a third world state. Just look at the tax base. Awash in illegals and other deadenders.
Pay up Kal Kiddies….Moonbeam needs your dinero suckers.
Wrong. Here’s the data:
http://www.ucop.edu/budget/fees/documents/history_fees.pdf
There’s a plot here:
http://satyagraha.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/hyperinflation-of-tuition-fees-in-the-university-of-california/
Reagan was governor in 67 through 75. The increases started in 90 through 94 (start of Pete Wilson (R)), then dropped under Wilson until big increases under Davis (D) and Schwarzenegger (R). So you can’t blame it on either party as governor.
You can blame it on democrats in the legislature, though. They have been in the majority there throughout the entire rise.
Exactly. The Lib infested legislature should be voted out. We need pro growth legislators. Make Cali a right to work state with tough welfare, immigration enforcement.
Cal was free, but you had to come up with your own living expenses and books. Lots of great stories of people working 40-hours a week as security guards, cooks, etc to pay their rent and food.
Now, the lowest income students get aid money well beyond what it costs for tuition. Cal Grants basically cover tuition, Pell Grants are on top of that (typically $5,550 this year), and then there’s University grants.
For the lowest income students, the situation is _much_ better than it was in the 60′s and 70′s. For middle income students, it’s much worse.
One reason the Cali budget is in trouble. The entitlement society lives in Cali.