Student Fees

More than 250 UC Irvine students, faculty and staff members marched through the campus Friday and called on state legislators to stop fee increases, pay reductions and program cutbacks. The crowd waved banners, blew whistles and chanted "No more fee hikes!" as they weaved through campus and finally stopped at the administration building, where speakers vented their anger. Demonstration leaders and state Sen.

Jack Scott, a veteran and popular educator who has headed the state's community college system during a period of brutal budget cuts and was often a voice decrying the impact on students, announced Tuesday that he will retire as chancellor overseeing the 112 campuses. Scott, 78, became chancellor of the nation's largest community college system in January 2009 after a long career as a state legislator and college campus leader, giving him rare insights into both politics and academia.

Leaders of a Cal State Northridge student body that is struggling with fewer classes and services and higher fees organized a meeting Monday to grill state legislators and campus administrators about the budget crunch. But when the appointed hour rolled around at noon, all but about 25 of the legions of students who trooped by were headed for a different kind of grill--the one serving lunch in the University Union. Many of those chatting with friends nearby weren't sure of the event's purpose.

The state is investigating whether Orange County political leaders will be breaking the law if they go forward with their plan to take $73.5 million in tax dollars that are supposed to go to local schools. County officials said they have no choice but to redirect the money in January and again in May to balance the county's budget and pay its bills. Without the tax dollars, the county might be forced to lay off hundreds of workers, close jails and cut care for indigent patients, said Bill Campbell, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

Gov. Pete Wilson won't raise taxes but he raises student fees 40% (March 19). He wants our children to pay now, not later. DOUGLAS INGOLDSBY, Santa Barbara

California must make community college more affordable by raising student fees. Seriously. In the second round of federal stimulus money for higher education, California's community colleges received $5 million this month. That's nice, but not half as much as they would have gotten if they'd raised fees by a mere $1 a unit from the current $26. For the average full-time student, that would amount to a total increase of perhaps $30 a year; it would have boosted the colleges' budget by $12.5 million.

UCLA officials have decided not to use all of the $25 million in student fees that they were planning to spend on a $185-million renovation of Pauley Pavilion, home of the school's legendary basketball team. Vice Chancellor Steven A. Olsen said in a letter to The Times that $15 million of the student funds would go to other uses. The letter followed a Sunday article detailing how, in a time of crippling budget cuts, administrators throughout the state have tapped funds meant for classrooms and student services to help pay for ill-timed land deals, loans to high-ranking officials and, at UCLA, the Pauley renovation.

California State University trustees Wednesday approved a 10% increase in undergraduate and graduate student fees for the coming school year, with one board member saying it was the only way to absorb deep funding cuts without turning away thousands of students and eliminating teaching posts. "Until California changes its priorities . . . we only have bad choices," Board of Trustees Chairman Jeffrey Bleich said before the 17-2 vote.

While California universities have faced round after round of crippling budget cuts and protests against increased fees have flared on campuses, administrators have tapped funds meant for classrooms and students to cover some extraordinary costs: losses on ill-timed real estate deals, loans to high-ranking officials and an ambitious construction project. Experts say the moves, made without wide student knowledge or public oversight, show that administrators have put aggressive business plans ahead of the teaching mission.

Ending a decades-long tradition, the California State University plans to start using the word "tuition" instead of "fees" to refer to the educational costs it charges to students. The move marks a fundamental philosophical shift in the ideal of offering Californians a tuition-free public college education, a principle enshrined in the state's master plan for higher education adopted 50 years ago. California students have long paid fees for specialized or optional services such as health, housing and recreation.

The clock is ticking, less than a year until the Pacific 12 Conference starts collecting on its historic $3-billion television contract. The largest broadcast deal ever negotiated by a college league, it will pour hundreds of millions into the member schools annually. And it cannot come a moment too soon. A sluggish economy has left athletic departments across the Pac-12 scrambling to cover costs, and some barely afloat, according to records acquired by The Times. Cash-strapped programs at California, Arizona State and Oregon State needed "allocated revenues" to balance their budgets last year.

Students starting the school year at California Community Colleges this week will pay higher fees and have fewer courses from which to choose. At California State University campuses, students will find their classes packed, fewer library books available and the ranks of part-time faculty thinned. That dismal picture could worsen if the state's financial problems force colleges and universities to make additional budget cuts mid-year, leaders of the systems said Monday during a conference call with reporters.

The state auditor Thursday called on the University of California to be more transparent about how it distributes money among its campuses and asked why four campuses with high proportions of black, Latino and Native American students receive lower per-capita funding than some other UC schools. The auditor's report also criticized UCLA for "wrongfully" using $5 million from a student activities fund to construct a student center and for plans, since abandoned, to tap the fund further to renovate the Pauley Pavilion basketball arena.

It all came down to money this week on my return trip to San Francisco. And there is good news and bad news in this. The good news is that my daughter finally found a place to live. It's a studio apartment, above a tavern, on a grimy stretch of a busy street. But it's cheap and clean, with a real kitchen and a private bathroom, unlike the other prospects we'd seen. And it's a straight shot — one bus — to San Francisco State, where she will be a junior this fall. That is where the bad news comes in. Her tuition will jump again — by about $600 — this fall.

The California Constitution is unequivocal: "A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence" is essential to the "preservation of the rights and liberties of the people. " Therefore, it says, the state shall provide a free education to its children. That provision — Article IX — was enacted at the Constitutional Convention of 1878-79. Today, California has nearly 10,000 taxpayer-supported public schools serving just over 6 million students. Gratis . Except for one little hitch.

Local education officials this week said they are bracing for a dramatic shift in how extracurricular activities are funded, the result of a lawsuit settlement that bars schools and their affiliates from charging students fees for such programs as sports teams, musical ensembles and cheer squads. California education officials in December settled a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against dozens of campuses, including John Burroughs High in Burbank, alleging that charging students for educational materials and activities violates a constitutional mandate that public school districts provide free and equitable education to all students.

In a first concrete look at how California's fiscal crisis may dramatically reshape higher education in the state, California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed said Tuesday that he will ask the university's trustees to approve an additional student fee hike of 15% to 20% for this fall, and enrollment reductions of 32,000 students in the year to follow.

Pasadena school officials have been ordered by a judge to halt the collection of fees for extracurricular activities and have tentatively agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit by reimbursing students who paid the fees the last three years. Attorneys for both the Pasadena Unified School District and three parents, who filed the lawsuit challenging the fees as unconstitutional, agreed to the order issued Thursday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann Kough.

California's community colleges always have been among the best bargains in America. But too often these days that's like saying land's cheap on Mars. Price doesn't matter much if the product isn't available. Like a lot of institutions that rely on tax dollars, California's community college system has been hit hard. And that means students suffer. They're getting less for more. Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to increase student fees by $10 per unit, from $26 to $36. That would raise $110 million to partly offset a $400-million state funding cut Brown advocates for community colleges, leaving them with $3.6 billion in state money, a 10% trim.

The proposals for the University of California now being considered in Sacramento ? limiting tuition and fees, freezing executive and faculty salaries and increasing legislative control over the UCs ? are well intentioned. But they are a recipe for ruining a great public university system. A public university has only three choices: It can be subsidized by the state, it can raise tuition and fees to make up needed revenue, or it can be mediocre. Without adequate revenue, faculties will shrink, meaning fewer and larger classes; the quality of faculty teaching and research will diminish; programs and facilities will be inadequate for education.