UC Regents Approve Tuition Hike for Out-of-State Students
Credit: Image Credit: Margaret Attridge- The University of California Board of Regents voted to raise supplemental tuition for nonresident undergraduate students.
- Tuition will increase by $3,402 — 9.9% — bringing the total cost of tuition to $52,536.
- Nonresidents pay supplemental tuition on top of the UC tuition that in-state students pay.
The University of California (UC) has approved a new tuition hike for nonresident undergraduate students, beginning with the 2025-26 incoming class.
The system’s board of regents voted 15-1, with two abstentions, to approve a nearly 10% supplemental tuition hike for nonresident undergraduate students — increasing from $34,200 to $37,602. Nonresident students, including out-of-state and international students, are required to pay supplemental tuition on top of standard tuition costs.
The total annual cost of tuition for nonresident students will climb to $52,536, not including any costs for campus fees, housing, health insurance, or books. The increase will not impact any current students.
In fall 2023, 38,701 nonresident undergraduate students were enrolled at UC, approximately 16.6% of UC’s total undergraduate population. Of these nonresident students, over half (20,871) are international students.
UC’s chief financial officer, Nathan Brostrom, said at the board’s Nov. 13 Finance and Capital Strategies Committee meeting that the tuition increases come as the system faces a “really tough budget year.”
He explained that the university is facing significant state budget reductions alongside “ongoing increases in salaries and benefits,” potentially leading to a fiscal impact exceeding a half-billion dollars.
In defense of the tuition increase, Caín Díaz, associate vice president for budget analysis and planning at the UC Office of the President, highlighted that undergraduate nonresident fees at UC are relatively low compared to universities considered as “main comparator institutions.”
Díaz noted that undergraduate nonresidents pay $7,000 more in fees at public universities in Virginia, and $11,500 more at public universities in Michigan.
UC student regent, Josiah Beharry, voiced his support for the tuition increase, calling it a “really good, comprehensive plan,” noting that he would “get pushback” from students who don’t support the move.
At a time when international student enrollment is at an all-time high, students who spoke during the public comment period at the regents’ meeting were concerned the tuition increase would make UC inaccessible for international students.
Namrata Deepak, an undergraduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), said the tuition increase would make the UC system inaccessible to international students who could not afford existing tuition and support their basic needs.
International students do not qualify for federal or state aid programs, including grants, student loans, and assistance for basic needs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California.
Javier Nuñez-Verdugo, another student at UCLA, echoed a similar concern.
“For nonresident [students] like international students from the global south … this would further threaten their very chances to be able to commit to the UC because of the insurmountable risk of college debt and an environment that also fails to meet the needs of a diverse student body,” they said.
Francis Villanueva, also a UCLA undergraduate student, said that the tuition increase will “only widen” the educational gap and affect “the most underserved, underprivileged, and marginalized students.”
“In such a crucial time as this one where the future’s on the line, how can the UC claim to care about students and making higher education affordable if the first thing they’ll do is make students foot the bill, while they rake in record-breaking profits and give themselves raises,” he said.