Measure would suspend increase in college costs

Tanya Sierra
San Diego union Tribune
Feb 10, 2008

Only two years into college, Juan Vazquez is already swimming in debt. At 19, the cultural-studies major at UCSD owes $30,000 in loans.

He recently took on a third job and stresses out about his living expenses and the cost of parking on campus.

“I'm worried I'm going to be spending the rest of my life repaying loans,” said Vazquez, who is shelling out $22,524 annually for tuition and room and board at the University of California San Diego in La Jolla.

Fees at the University of California and California State University have gone up five of the past six years. In anticipation that fees will increase yet again this year, students are mobilizing to freeze college costs for five years.

After that period, fees could increase annually no more than the change in the California Consumer Price Index.

Students in yellow T-shirts are trying to collect 434,000 valid signatures by April to put the College Affordability Act of 2008 on the November ballot.

Today it costs about $24,000 a year on average to attend a UC campus, which includes books, living expenses and transportation. Tuition alone, at $7,511, has risen more than tenfold since 1980.

It costs about $15,000 annually to attend a California State University campus, including books and on-campus living expenses.

The College Affordability Act would tax those with incomes of $1 million or more an additional 1 percent. That money would then be allocated to fund public education.

Vazquez said the tax is fair.

“Lots of taxes go to causes that are not as crucial as education for everyone,” he said. “This will affect our entire future.”

Students mobilize At UCSD, students will fan out across Library Walk this week collecting signatures.

Nicole McElroy, 21, a senior majoring in ethnic studies, is among those organizing the drive at UCSD. She said she owes $14,000 in student loans.

“By the time I'm done, it will be more,” she said.

Utsav Gupta, 19, a bioengineering biotechnology major, said rising education costs are financially jolting.

“I've heard of students maxing out their federal aid and student loans and who already have one or two jobs,” Gupta said. “When you raise tuition, you're really affecting socioeconomic diversity at our campuses. That's important because what we learn here is how to deal with other people.”

Students have already gathered signatures at San Diego State and Cal State San Marcos.

“We've registered over 700 people to vote, and we have over 400 signatures,” said Felipe Robinson-Zanartu, who attends Cal State San Marcos. “Most of the students who have been participating in the campaign are very happy that we're doing something like this.”

No position yet Not everyone is in favor of the tax, though no groups have formally opposed the measure because of its infancy. Lani Lutar, president of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, said her group has not taken a position on the campaign because it hasn't qualified for the ballot.

But in general, the association opposes “unwarranted taxes and fees” and “discriminatory regulations,” according to its Web site.

The University of California's governing board of regents and California State University's trustees could decide as early as next month whether to raise fees again, a decision largely prompted by the state's massive deficit and the governor's proposed budget.

Students say they are so financially stretched by fees that they worry they won't be able to afford an education.

That's why Chris Vaeth, who is directing the campaign from Berkeley, said he asks California businesses a poignant question when promoting the measure:

“Do you want a work force that is ready to work for these businesses in California?” he asks.

Past efforts Freezing student fees is not a new concept. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi proposed capping fees at 2008-09 levels at both university systems late last year, and both governing boards are expected to vote on the issue next month. Over the years, students have lobbied legislators to adopt similar bills without success. As a result, students and parents are hedging their bets directly with the voters.

Hundreds of thousands of petitions have been printed and mailed to campuses across the state, and materials are also available online, Vaeth said.

Seed money for what backers proclaim is the first student-led ballot initiative was provided by Greenlining Action, a nonprofit public policy organization in Berkeley.

So far the campaign has spent about $200,000 and expects to keep its costs down by using student volunteers to collect signatures.

Organizers have until mid-April to gather enough signatures, which amounts to 5 percent of the ballots cast in the last gubernatorial election.

“We think we have a fighting chance because there are lots of students and lots of parents,” Vaeth said.