In a letter to The Los Angeles Times in May, Ralph Jones of Riverside reminisced about how easy and cheap it was to go to the University of California in the old days.
When he arrived at UC Riverside in 1968, he said, he paid $105 per quarter in non-instructional fees, plus books. He paid $75 per month to share what he called a “nice” two-bedroom apartment. To transfer to Berkeley all he had to do was sign a card and show up.
“I look back on this as a time of affordable abundance,” he wrote. “I pity the students trapped in a system that was once designed for essentially free access for all California students with good grades.”
It does seem like a fantasy now, doesn’t it? UC was entirely tuition-free until 1970.
This month, as the UC system’s 10 campuses — from Davis in the north to San Diego in the south — begin to reopen for the new school year, that’s far from the case. The average cost of tuition alone for in-state residents is $13,104.
That by itself might not be the end of the world financially, especially because the UCs waive tuition for low-income families. But if you add in the cost of housing, food, transportation, campus fees and books, soon you’re talking about real money: The estimated cost for an in-state student living on campus is $38,504 for the 2022-23 school year.
It’s no wonder you hear about students saddling themselves with debt or working punishingly long hours while juggling their schoolwork. Financial aid or no, it’s unsurprising that some kids can’t afford to attend UC or must live at home or sleep in their cars or can’t afford quite enough to eat.
I was reminded by Ralph Jones’ letter that the twin promises of affordability and access date back to the very founding of the University of California. In March 1868, Gov. Henry Haight signed a charter establishing a state university and declaring that, as soon as it became financially feasible, “admission and tuition shall be free to all the residents of the state.”
The California Master Plan for Higher Education, developed under then-UC President Clark Kerr and signed into law in 1960 by Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, reaffirmed the commitment to a tuition-free, broadly accessible education.
So what happened?
One thing that happened was Ronald Reagan, who fiercely championed the idea of charging students for their UC educations in his campaign for governor in 1966. He was an outspoken critic of the university, assailing the “small minority of beatniks, radicals and filthy speech advocates” who irritated him with their protest marches.
Once elected, Reagan promptly fired Kerr. As for free tuition, he just wasn’t a government-will-provide-it sort of guy. In 1970, UC added an “educational fee” — $150 — to its costs for undergraduates. And with that, it was off to the races.
Despite the tuition hikes, the university, to its credit, has done an awful lot to remain affordable and accessible. More than 70% of students receive grants or scholarships. A substantial portion of tuition revenue is redirected back to financial aid. Today 56% of UC students pay no tuition at all. No family earning under $80,000 pays.
I’ve always loved the idea of Kerr’s Master Plan — an essentially free college education for all Californians. It represented an investment by taxpayers in the next generation and in the state’s future. What Reagan didn’t like is exactly what I loved: the community taking care of its own.
Sadly, we’re not going back to free college. But the commitment to affordability, access, diversity, social mobility and academic excellence should never be allowed to slip from view.
Nicholas Goldberg is a Los Angeles Times columnist. ©2022 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
Source: www.mercurynews.com