Letters to the Editor: Why needy UC students would be better off with higher tuition

To the editor: UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s opinion piece on increasing tuition in the University of California system does not go far enough.

The proposed increased rate is at least a few thousand dollars per year below tuition at comparable public schools in other states, and tens of thousands of dollars below that of top-tier and not-so-top-tier private schools. This means that students who pay in-state tuition are getting a great deal.

That’s fine for kids who cannot afford more, but for students from wealthy families, why in the world are we pricing a UC education at less than the going rates at other schools?

It would be much better to charge considerably more (still a very good deal) and take that extra income and redistribute it to needier students. Per Chemerinsky, that’s what the UC system does now. Imagine how much more good could be done to help kids in real need at the expense of wealthy parents who wouldn’t miss the money?

Michael Weinbaum, San Clemente