<p>Will UC's fee decline in the next couple years?</p>
<p>Doubt it. The general trend is for the state to defund post-secondary education since post-secondary education is of lower political priority than K-12, health and welfare, prisons, and not raising taxes. Defunding post-secondary education means that the in-state subsidy will be reduced, resulting in increases in in-state tuition.</p>
<p>DAng. So you see it going higher? Where do you think it will reach in the next couple years?</p>
<p>There is virtually zero chance that UC fees will decrease. 99% chance they will increase. No way to predict in California what it will be in two years. They did just have a huge increase if I remember correctly, so I’d actually count that as good news for the prospect of increases in the short term.</p>
<p>There is no chance that UC fees will decline. Check out the story in today’s LA Times:</p>
<p>[State</a> tax revenue plummets in July, raising fear of trigger cuts - latimes.com](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20110810,0,1467043.story]State”>California tax revenue plummets in July, raising fear of trigger cuts)</p>
<p>There are ~3,000 4 year colleges in the US. The number that will lower their fees in the next couple of years can be counted on one hand. :D</p>
<p>Dang. Colleges will soon be like gravetowns or something.</p>
<p>No…up…up…up…and away. They have to keep paying their administrators high salaries and benefits.</p>
<p>My D is a senior at UCSD and the climb has been amazing over 4 years. My Son starts at U of Minnesota in 3 weeks. He will cost me $6k less per year paying oos tuition, that’s just wrong. He passed on davis and sb and wants out of this state. The state is broke, the UC system will be “dumbied down” now with ELC going to 9%. Last one out of this socialist state please turn off the lights.</p>
<p>The UC’s are still cheaper than most other public schools. You should apply to a mix of schools because you never know what your financial aid package be. </p>
<p>Example: UCLA tuition is free for me. My cousin would have had to take out loans to pay tuition at UCSB, but USC was almost free for her after a huge grant she got. You just never know…</p>
<p>Similar experience as PopeYoung5 – our kiddo is a sophomore at the Univ of Iowa…with a modest merit award, she is paying about the same at Iowa as she would have at UCs, when you consider room and board (much lower cost in the Midwest). </p>
<p>In our case, kiddo wanted to try a different part of the country, and The Univ of Iowa is a great school and a strong fit for her. </p>
<p>That said, I think UC’s are still a strong value for in-state students…Our youngest will strongly consider UCs. Although still a “strong value” in my opinion, UC’s are no longer a phenomenal value". I think the highest ranked UCs present the best value for in state compared to OOS alternatives for CA residents (i.e. compare UCLA/UCB in state to Michigan/UNC-CH/Virginia/UIUC/Washington OOS).</p>
<p>University of Wisconsin OOS= $31k
University of Minnesota OOS=$24k</p>
<p>All the UC’s Instate= $29k</p>
<p>With ELC now at 9%, a lot of 3.85, 31 act type Cali. kids from top high schools will be driven oos and never come back. The state would rather put an ELC butt in a UC chair, who will flunk out in the name of social justice then keep the more talented and prepared kids who would make it at a UC. My Daughter at UCSD had 2 dorm mates from Barstow and El Centro high school last year get in on the ELC program. They both failed every class and were gone by xmas. Brilliant move by a socialist state.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what is the perception among Californians of UC rankings? I know I can look up acceptance rates, but I’m interested in a more plebeian opinion based ranking. Here is my guess:</p>
<p>Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
UCD
UCSB
UCSC
UCR
UCM</p>
<p>You forgot about UC Irvine^^^</p>
<p>I think you’re right. You forgot UCI which would be around UCSB/UCD level.</p>
<p>Academics rank them like this:</p>
<p>Berkeley 4.8</p>
<p>UCLA 4.2</p>
<p>UCSD, UCD 3.8</p>
<p>UCI 3.6
UCSB 3.5</p>
<p>UCSC 3.2
UCR 3.1</p>
<p>UCI, they even have a med school but for some reason don’t get as much mention as the other campuses. Thanks for input. Will assume some bias in the UCB/UCLA rank from @UCBchem.</p>
<p>^ Heh, no bias from me. That’s what over 2,000 academics think. ;)</p>
<p>UC tuition is not going to decline in the next couple years. Aside from the fact that California is suffering from a budget crisis, the trend in college tuition costs in general is up.</p>
<p>popeyoung #9:</p>
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<p>Can you break it down for us as far as Wisc and Minn’s OOS tuition, room & board, other expenses? </p>
<p>Dorming in CA probably has a good markup because housing is expensive in CA. On the other hand, the cost involved to house a student in those two states at those two flagships would seemingly be significantly less.</p>
<p>And with some foresight, you can plan your students’ futures more cost effectively by placing the community colleges into the picture. If they commute to the local cc, then they could have two years at effectively zero cost.</p>
<p>If they’re higher up, say, top 5% of their class and the admitted class of the particular UC’s, then they should warrant some merit. You shouldn’t be afraid of sending your kids to cc even if they’re higher up on the food chain wrt grades/scores because cc shouldn’t be thought of as a poor option educationally. In fact, many students grow to love cc and are glad they enrolled there because of the less competitive aspects and more hand-holding.</p>
<p>I think a lot more CA natives would rather have two years at a cc and two at a UC, rather than four years at the schools you mentioned above, even though they are excellent schools and are excellent value.</p>
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<p>I agree that 4 to 9% is too large a burden on UC.</p>
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<p>But you have to remember that poor kids’ parents pay state income taxes also, probably even Dream Act kids’. Don’t tell me of %'s in state coffers because poorer people pay a larger wrt their daily sustenance.</p>
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<p>I think that’s SD’s fault. If the school is going to make large exceptions (wrt stats) for these students, then it has to make sure that there are mentors and tutors that bring these students up to speed because it’s sunk cost at $10K’s to have anyone drop out.</p>
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<p>Please elaborate. Are you saying that 2 years at CA cc is comparable to 2 years at a UC? I don’t buy it.</p>