Tuition necessity in question; radical reforms traveling through California

Every Californian knows their public higher education system is in crisis, but perhaps none more than the students who are actually in it.

A student group called Fix UC from the University of California–Riverside has formally proposed abolishing tuition for the state’s entire University of California system, and instead, having it make money through deducting five percent of each alumnus’ paycheck for the next 20 years of employment.

If implemented, the group’s reforms would affect the 159,000 students spread out among the 10 campuses that make up the UC system.

“There have been ideas proposed in the past, but I would say that I haven’t seen one like this one that’s gotten so much attention,” said Kris Lovekin, director of media relations at the University of California–Riverside. “They’re getting compliments about coming to the table with an interesting idea.”

The plan asserts that it’s possible to receive just as good of an education — if not, a better one — without charging tuition, said Fix UC President Chris LoCascio,

That may be music to the ears of UC students. In 2011, the state cut $650 million in funding to the UC system and decreased its total support to the system by 21.3 percent. The cuts led to an 18 percent tuition hike in each of the UC system’s schools for the 2011-2012 academic school year. But this isn’t a recent phenomenon. Over the last decade, the system’s tuition nearly quadrupled.

LoCascio, as editor-in-chief of the UC–Riverside’s student newspaper, became frustrated along with his editorial board by the UC system’s inability to handle budget shortfalls without exponentially raising tuition.

“As concerned UC students, we needed to start our own proposal, and kick-start some ways of helping the university,” he said.

Starting in April 2011, the campus paper’s editors worked for nine months trying to create a public higher education funding that didn’t require up-front tuition costs to function.

When the group unveiled their proposal in a January UC System Board of Regents meeting, they received public praise for their work’s merit, most notably from UC System President Mark Yudof.

Since then, Fix UC has won audiences with him and other influential system vice presidents.

The key to their success, though, wasn’t just because they had good ideas. The way the student group has gone about creating and promoting its idea has been central to being taken seriously.

“They’re being well received because their attitude is understanding of all the complexities that there are in the UC system,” Lovekin said.

Wally Rice, chairman of the Citizens University Committee, which facilitates UC–Riverside’s relationship with its surrounding community, remembers how Fix UC members acted during their presentation in the January Board of Regents meeting.

“It was really civil discourse, which really pleases me,” he said. “I think that sometimes in the public realm, we’ve kind of gotten to a part where we’re barking at each other instead of being civil.”

LoCascio expanded, adding that it wasn’t necessary to be overly aggressive in being heard by UC system officials.

“This is a testament,” he said, “to what can be accomplished when the student decides to set their mind on an issue and solve it in a productive way.”

Senior Reporter Andrew Carrera can be reached at news@collegian.com.