The university may raise student fees again for the fall semester in an attempt to offset drastic cuts by the state, UC President Mark Yudof said in a recent memo to the state legislature.

Less than a month after the UC Board of Regents approved a 9.3 percent systemwide fee increase for the 2009-10 academic year, Yudof said in a May 29 letter that the university was considering either a 20 or 25 percent increase starting in the fall semester.

Because no official proposal has been drafted, Student Regent D'Artagnan Scorza said the new increases may replace the 9.3 percent hike or could be added to it.

Yudof said the consideration of new fees is motivated by the additional $508.3 million in cuts from the state since the failure of revenue-generating Propositions 1A-1E in the May 19th statewide special election.

"Cuts of this magnitude will require the UC to revisit the fee increase level for 2009-10," Yudof wrote in the letter.

Student fees are one of the largest sources of revenue for the UC system. Tuition for resident undergraduates has more than doubled since the 2001-02 school year.

UC spokesperson Paul Schwartz said the university hopes to avoid such a large fee increase this upcoming academic year.

"We will look at everything carefully and there will be no quick decision," he said in an e-mail. "The figure in the letter was just to convey the general magnitude of the challenge we face."

With the 9.3 percent fee increase approved May 7, resident undergraduate students face an additional $662 in yearly costs, making their UC fees total an estimated $7,788.

If a 20 to 25 percent increase were to replace the 9.3 percent, students would instead have to pay $1,557 to $1,947 extra in tuition per year.

Melissa Peabody, a senior cognitive science major at UC Berkeley, said an added increase could greatly change her plans for covering her tuition costs.

"I'll have to take out more loans," she said. "I thought I can just ask my parents for help, but with 20 to 25 percent, that's something I can't lean on them for."

In light of the governor's recent proposal to eliminate Cal Grants, UC Students Association President Lucero Chavez said any added increase after many students have already declared their intent to register is "unacceptable."

"They need to be able to tell students how to plan if they are going to raise fees," said Chavez, who is also a Boalt Hall School of Law student. "It's not students' responsibility to know where that money is going to come from if it's is already being promised."

Both Scorza and Chavez said higher fees could significantly reduce access to the UC system, particularly for low-income students.

Scorza said that any additional increase would be "devastating" but that the university has few options when faced with a $800 million budget shortfall.

"I don't know what other options or other sources of revenue the university has," he said. "If we don't do something that ugly and not likable, then it can be whole lot worse."

Scorza said the university is already exploring long-term solutions to combat the shortfall, including the creation of an alumni fundraising committee.

Incoming freshman Nika Saki said an additional fee increase could make things tight, especially with her sister enrolled at UC Davis.

"It will be become harder and harder for our family," she said.

Tags: UC BOARD OF REGENTS