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UC Students Association Lobbies Lawmakers on Fees Sacramento – The University of California Student Association (UCSA) hosted their 5th Annual Student Lobby Conference March 1-3. Students rallied and held a press conference on the State Capitol steps on Monday, March 3, to dramatize the negative impacts of the states divestment from higher education. The conference and rally theme was It’s Raining Debt. Over 350 UC students statewide participated in the conference and lobby day. In January the Governor released a devastating budget for the UC. His proposal included fee hikes of 7.4 percent for undergrads and up to 19 percent for some graduate students in addition to a $331.9 million cut to the overall UC budget. Since then, the UC Regents have speculated that the cut could force fees to rise above the Governor’s proposed hikes and enrollment growth for new UC students to halt. “This year’s budget is the worst that students have seen in a long time. Not only are current students struggling, but the UC may now lock out even more students by halting enrollment growth. Bad budget years seem to be a dime a dozen and each time students are targeted to front the bill. The attack on students and our future has to stop or California will suffer in the long run”, stated Louise Hendrickson, UCSA President and UC Riverside Graduate Student High profile legislators from both parties such as Senator Denham, Lt. Governor John Garamendi, Assemblymembers Leno, Laird, Ma and Portantino also spoke at the press conference. The students rallying even prompted the Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez to come down form the capitol and address students. “Over the last few years, UC and CSU student fees have nearly doubled – our students can’t afford it, and our state can’t afford to leave future generations out of California’s prosperity,” Garamendi said at the rally. “I have asked my fellow UC Regents and CSU Trustees to halt these increases, which amount to a hefty tax on students, and I will keep up this fight to ensure that California keeps its historical promise to put higher education within reach of every California student,” he added. On the capitol steps students put on a Higher Education Forecast complete with a six-foot radar map of California and a 10-year forecast projecting the damage the Governor’s cuts could do. “Fees have risen over $1,652 since Hurricane Arnold hit in 2003” said UC Santa Barbara Graduate Student Jesse Bernal, playing the role of meteorologist. Already the total cost of attending UCs, including books, housing and other expenses, is higher than peer schools. In addition to lobbying for funding for a fee freeze and enrollment growth, UCSA lobbied in support of funding for competitive Cal Grants, academic preparation programming and financial aid access for undocumented students. Also at the UC Student Lobby Conference, UCSA released a fourteen page Affordability Report highlighting the challenges students face in paying for a UC education and ways that state support for the UC can break down barriers to higher education for low and moderate income students.
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