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[doctor_torrseal]

I have worked at a UC (not Berkeley, although I know people there and have visited it).

Yes, Berkeley is a wonderful environment.  Yes, even if times are crap, I would go there in an instant.  Yes, times are tough all over.  But also, even before the economic crisis sh-t started hitting the fan, UC faculty were grossly underpaid compared to local cost of living.  The dominant contributor is housing.  (But then there are also local school issues for some but not all places in California, because California has neglected its public school systems for so long that some of them are crap, and even a public schooling zealot like me can't honestly insist that other people's kids must go there.)

I know senior UC profs who have really nice, if not large, places to live, because they bought in 30 years ago.  I also know junior UC profs who simply could not afford to buy houses in the places they worked, because of California real estate inflation, sure, but also because academic salaries just don't keep up with private sector salaries, especially in tech and related industries.  Well before the crisis, junior faculty would sometimes leave my UC over cost-of-living issues.  What kept people there was not the wonderful UC bureaucracy nor the delightful 25 year old office furniture, but the quality of the UC and that California is a nice place to live.

Everybody has these problems.  Everybody is worried about their jobs.  I now work in another state that has dire problems and even less of a tradition of supporting academia, and it looks bleak.  But the facts are that UC is a great institution partly in spite of the State's lack of appreciation for it, and that slashing UC will hit it especially hard.  It does no good to say that my state's problems are bigger and therefore I don't want to hear whining from privileged UC-ites.  Support for higher education is not a zero-sum game.  If an institution as prestigious as UC can be crippled, everyone is vulnerable.

[pink_]

The CSU board of trustees voted last night to increase tuition by 20% for fall.  This is on top of the 10% increase that they approved in the spring.  As much of a mess as the UC system is in right now, and it is a big mess, I think CSU is about to get worse.  30%?!  The worse part about it is that many CSU students are already stretched to the limit working and borrowing to pay for their education. 

[jonesey]

The CSU board of trustees voted last night to increase tuition by 20% for fall.  This is on top of the 10% increase that they approved in the spring.  As much of a mess as the UC system is in right now, and it is a big mess, I think CSU is about to get worse.  30%?!  The worse part about it is that many CSU students are already stretched to the limit working and borrowing to pay for their education. 

Students in California need to quit crying; their in-state tuition, even with a 30% increase, is lower than every other state in America. 

And CC's in CA still only charge $20/unit.  Public (higher) education in California is not only some of the best in the country, it's also the cheapest.

[immigrant]

The CSU board of trustees voted last night to increase tuition by 20% for fall.  This is on top of the 10% increase that they approved in the spring.  As much of a mess as the UC system is in right now, and it is a big mess, I think CSU is about to get worse.  30%?!  The worse part about it is that many CSU students are already stretched to the limit working and borrowing to pay for their education. 

Students in California need to quit crying; their in-state tuition, even with a 30% increase, is lower than every other state in America. 

And CC's in CA still only charge $20/unit.  Public (higher) education in California is not only some of the best in the country, it's also the cheapest.

+1 on all of this.

[egret]

Students in California need to quit crying; their in-state tuition, even with a 30% increase, is lower than every other state in America. 

Two year schools, yes, not four year schools though, or at least according to this chart from the Dept of Ed:
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_332.asp

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Students in California need to quit crying; their in-state tuition, even with a 30% increase, is lower than every other state in America. 

Two year schools, yes, not four year schools though, or at least according to this chart from the Dept of Ed:
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_332.asp

FWIW, that lumps CSU ($3000 pre-hike) and UC systems together.  On the other hand, many other states also have inexpensive universities once you get away from the  flagship(s). - DvF

[terpsichore]

Tuition may remain inexpensive in CA, but increasing tuition anywhere so rapidly makes it impossible for students and their families to plan for the cost of their education. A family might save and plan for college for a decade or more, and then be in the unlucky cohort that gets hit with a 30% increase.  A more rational system would adjust tuition steadily in good times and bad.

[pink_]

Tuition may remain inexpensive in CA, but increasing tuition anywhere so rapidly makes it impossible for students and their families to plan for the cost of their education. A family might save and plan for college for a decade or more, and then be in the unlucky cohort that gets hit with a 30% increase.  A more rational system would adjust tuition steadily in good times and bad.

Exactly.
Upping tuition 20% a month before classes start forces a lot of people to scramble to cover costs.  It's one thing if you see it coming and can plan appropriately with financial aid, but this timing makes planning rather difficult.

[jonesey]

Higher ed in California is hurting all over:

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,61848.0.html