UC regents postpone vote on tuition increase, citing coronavirus uncertainties

University of California regents will not vote on a tuition increase as scheduled this week because the coronavirus crisis has created too much uncertainty, board Chairman John Pérez said Wednesday.

Pérez said he and UC President Janet Napolitano, in consultation with Gov. Gavin Newsom, campus chancellors and others, believe it was “not an appropriate time” to move forward on the tuition proposal.

“In this moment of great uncertainty, adding a change to people who couldn’t fully anticipate is not the right course of action,” he said.

Regents were planning to vote on a five-year plan to raise tuition and fees beginning in fall 2020 for each incoming class and guarantee that level with no further increases for six years. Under the proposal, tuition and fees would increase by inflation plus 2% for the class entering this fall and by smaller amounts for succeeding classes through 2024-25.

The plan would have reduced the net cost of attendance for more than 100,000 UC students who receive need-based grants. That’s because one-third of every tuition dollar goes into the UC financial aid pool, so higher tuition would increase available grant dollars.

The university also hoped to use the additional tuition revenue to help close academic achievement gaps, increase enrollment of California students, beef up academic support, increase faculty salaries and repair aging infrastructure.