California Tuitions Rise First Time In Six Years, Board Of Regents Says

The cost of UC Irvine just got more expensive according to recent reports.

Tuition at UCLA, UC Irvine and other University of California campuses across the state will be going up in the fall, with the Board of Regents Thursday approving the first increase in six years.

The board agreed to hike in-state base tuition at UC campuses from $11,220 this year to $11,502 in 2017-18, a roughly 2.5 percent increase. The accompanying student services fee will rise by $54, from $1,074 to $1,128.

Out-of-state students will pay the same increases in base tuition and fees, along with a $1,332 jump in supplemental tuition, which will increase to $28,014. The total increase for non-resident students will be $1,668.

UC officials noted that two-thirds of undergraduate students would have the increase covered by financial aid. More than half of California undergrads have all of their tuition and fees covered by financial aid, university officials said.

According to the university, the increases are needed following a six- year tuition freeze to help keep down class sizes by hiring more faculty while bolstering student services such as tutoring, academic advisers, mental health services and teachers assistants.

UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said earlier that one-third of the tuition increase would be used to support financial aid programs for housing, food, books and transportation. She said enrollment has continued to increase at UC campuses, and an effort to boost the number of California resident students led last year to the largest single-year increase in in-state enrollment since World War II.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, said he respects the pressure on state universities.

"At the same time, we have to do everything possible to keep college affordable," he said. "That includes preserving, and even working to expand, financial aid programs like the Middle Class Scholarship."

City News Service, Shutterfly photo