Protests from University of California students erupted Thursday after school officials approved a 32 percent tuition increase to make up for shrinking state funds.
Members of the board of regents that governs the 10 schools under the University of California system voted to raise undergraduate tuition by $2,500 in response to the crippling state budget crisis that means less state support for education.
Many of the student protesters were worried that the tuition increase would prevent them from getting an education or would put them in debt for years.
"My sister is starting college next year," said UCLA student Karissa Cognata. "We can't afford it."
In this video, NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels reports on how the California budget shortfall is impacting higher education.
Quotes
"It does hurt, but we have very few choices. We have half as much money to spend per student from the state as we did 1990. We had $16,000 per student in 1990, less than $8,000 today. So, the library hours are shorter. We have laid off a couple of thousand people, probably be laying off more. We have furloughs. We have fee increases." - Mark Yudof, president, University of California
"We have this core problem: Who is going to pay the salary of the English department? We have to have it. Who's going to pay it in sociology, in the humanities? And that's where we're running into trouble." - Mark Yudof, president, University of California
Warm Up Questions
1. Where do universities get their funding?
2. What is the difference between a public university and a private university?
3. How much do public universities cost?
Discussion Questions
1. What is the role of the public university? Do you think that it should be made as cheap as possible?
2. Are you hoping to attend a public university? Why? How would you feel about a tuition increase at your school?
3. How would budget cuts impact the quality of education?
4. What kinds of problems might private schools face during this recession? How are they different from the problems that public universities face?
5. In the report, the president of the University of California talks about how he worries about education programs that don't pay for themselves - mostly in the humanities. What do you think about this? Do you think that the humanities need more funding?
Additional Resources
