The University of California will hold in-state undergraduate tuition steady for the 2019-20 academic year, UC President Janet Napolitano announced today (March 6) at a Sacramento hearing on education finance. This marks the seventh time in eight years that the university has kept tuition flat for California residents, despite rising costs and growing enrollment across all UC campuses.
“We are optimistic about our strong partnership with the governor and the legislature and will work collectively to identify additional resources, in lieu of tuition revenues, to ensure that UC students can succeed,” said Napolitano.
“Accessibility and affordability represent UC’s core values as a public institution, and we need to provide this generation of students with the quality of education they deserve,” said UC Board of Regents Chair George Kieffer. “So this year, rather than raise tuition, we will once again join our students in advocating for additional resources from the state.”
In January, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a budget plan that represents a welcome step and a solid down payment in addressing priorities of the university’s 2019-20 budget plan, including funding to improve degree attainment and student success, expand student mental health services, and address student housing and food insecurity issues.
UC’s tuition announcement comes as the university crystallizes its ambitious multiyear plan to reach, through long-term UC and state investment, several bold goals by 2030: help 200,000 additional students earn a degree, on top of the 1 million for which the university is already on track; improve rates of timely graduation and degree attainment; close graduation gaps for low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students; increase graduate degrees to advance economic mobility and support industries critical to California; and recruit and grow more diverse, accomplished faculty.
In addition to holding tuition flat, UC’s commitment to affordability includes one of the nation’s strongest financial aid programs, which covers all systemwide tuition and fees for California students with family incomes of $80,000 or less. As a result, 57 percent of current California undergraduates pay no tuition and an additional 20 percent have part of their costs covered by financial aid.
Said UC Board of Regents Vice Chair John A. Pérez, “Part of UC’s mission is to do everything possible to help students reach their college dreams. We continue to do so in a number of ways, including addressing the total cost of attendance, such as food and housing needs, and working to develop a multiyear strategic plan that not only supports students’ financial needs but also expands access to UC for more Californians.”
As the world’s leading public research institution, UC has worked aggressively to contain costs while maintaining its academic excellence. Since 2015, the university has added more than 14,500 California undergraduates, far exceeding its initial enrollment target of 10,000 by 2018, and has simultaneously expanded affordable student housing and programs to reduce food insecurity.