University of California intends to increase financial aid
As the University of California seeks to sharply increase student fees, its president, Mark G. Yudof, announced plans Friday to soften the impact with an ambitious campaign to raise $1 billion for financial aid and a policy change widening aid eligibility for more middle-income families.
The 10 UC campuses have committed to raising the $1 billion in private funds for student aid over the next four years, Yudof said.
The university also wants to expand an existing financial aid program that uses UC, federal and state grants to cover all basic education fees, but not room and board, for most students whose family incomes are $60,000 or below. Yudof announced that he will ask the Board of Regents to broaden the “Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan” to cover household incomes up to $70,000 to ensure that no academically qualified student is shut out of UC.
That change would provide full coverage of fees for about 800 additional students, officials estimate.
About half of UC’s 170,000 undergraduates receive some aid, averaging $11,100 per student, according to university statistics.
In response to reduced state funding, the UC regents next month are expected to vote on a proposal to raise undergraduate fees by $2,514 by next fall to $10,300.
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