In a 13-7 vote between the UC Board of Regents approved a plan that is active until the year of 2019, approving a increase in price of tuition by five percent every year until the targeted year is reached.

The estimated price of increase is from $12,200 to $15,600 by 2019. Government officials such as Governor Jerry Brown and several other officials who are also regents have opposed the increase, asking for other alternative ways to reduce the overall cost while still improving the class of education that these prestigious schools deserve. Individuals that opposed this idea of increasing tuition across all UC schools were names such as Governor Jerry Brown, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

Many protests have begun in light of this issue of raising the costs. Schools such as UC Irvine have started protest gatherings and walks to show their side of the argument. Other schools such as UCSB have been writing their debt amounts on a public chalk board showing people exactly how much more money they have to pay in the future now for their education. Since the tuition has increased students are also demanding for better schooling. Students have argued that with this kind of pay that they are not receiving the teaching they now deserve. Chants from “Hey hey, ho ho, tuition hikes have got to go” to “Shame on you” shouted repeatedly at the top of pissed off college students lungs from across California have gotten recognition and support from the entire Untied States.

UC Irvine alumni Julia Burke when asked about the tuition increase responded and said: “ obviously I’m upset about it, school is already expensive enough and public education should be available to everyone no matter their economic class, when I was in school some of my friends couldn’t even afford 2-3 solid meals a day and were already sleeping on mattress on floors of their friends places”. To the regents of the UC programs and University of California President Janet Napolitano, these increases might not seem like to much to them, however to students who are struggling to eat everyday and have a place to sleep at the end of each night these increases are some peoples worst nightmares.

This increase discourages higher education because people cant afford it, with kids still trying to pay off loans each and every day and people who dropout simply because they cant already afford the tuition supplied by the UC system this increase is a horrible idea on the regents part. Its hard to expect students to go to school and do well in grad school while working a absurd amount of hours so that they can still attend class and have a meal to survive on.