UC Regents renews Tuition Stability Plan, increases incoming student tuition

On Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 1:30 p.m., the University of California Board of Regents voted 13-3 to renew the Tuition Stability Plan. The plan revolves around a model that controls tuition increases by freezing students’ tuition at the price point of freshman enrollment, but annually increases tuition costs per each new incoming student cohort based on inflation.

The renewal of the plan includes three modifications: a reduction in the plan’s return-to-aid requirement, a new “banking” feature, and a yearly 1% increase for capital. Beyond the funds reserved for the agreement’s stipulations, the remaining revenue is at the discretion of the campus’ chancellor to spend. Due to strong opposition to the model, the Regents will revisit the terms of this model in seven years.

The percentage of tuition revenue devoted to return to financial aid has been decreased from 45% to 40%, with a planned decrease to 33% “once the systemwide average return-to-aid rate reaches 33 percent of total Tuition and SSF revenue.” In the 2026-27 academic year, this tuition plan is estimated to generate around $11.1 billion. 

The regents’ “banking” feature would allow the University to take any percentage from past years during which the increase was under 5% and apply it to future years, as long as the total increase does not go over 5%. The annual 5% increase cap is still in place. However, “banking” allows for cohort increases up to the 5% cap even when inflation is below 5%. 

Nathan Brostrom, executive vice president and chief financial officer, explained this modification during the meeting.

“This mechanism provides assurance that future generations of UC students would have a cap on the level of increases, namely 5%, but it would also provide some safeguards to the University in periods of high inflation,” Brostrom stated.

The regents also approved a 1% permanent increase to tuition each year. This 1% is composite with any other increases, meaning it is also subject to the 5% cap and return-to-aid requirement. The funds collected from this 1% increase will be dedicated exclusively to capital needs across the system, as the University has a $9 billion shortfall in deferred management funding.

The UC Regents must approve each year’s percentage increase to the following year’s tuition before it is implemented. The plan itself will not be revisited for another seven years.

The regents first implemented the Tuition Stability Plan in September 2022, which assigns each incoming student cohort a tuition cost based on inflation, with a cap on how much tuition can increase from year to year. The UC Office of the President bases a student cohort on “the academic year of the term in which a student first enrolls at UC as a degree-seeking undergraduate.” The respective tuition for each cohort of undergraduate students then “remain[s] flat for the duration of [each] student’s enrollment, up to six years.” 

Ahead of the meeting, the UC Student Association rallied students across the UC to submit comments to the meeting in protest of the model.

Protesters shouted as Caín Díaz, associate vice president of Budget Analysis and Planning at UCOP, presented the new plan. Consequently, Regent Janet Reilly addressed the crowd.

“This meeting continues to be disrupted, and the regents are going to recess, and we will resume as soon as the room is cleared,” Reilly stated.

A protester shouted, “Listen to your students, listen to the people paying tuition,” as Reilly requested that a police officer make a declaration of unlawful assembly.

During the public comments section of the meeting, Amanda Dominguez, director of public affairs at The Campaign for College Opportunity, expressed concern over the impact that the increase will have on students’ college careers.

“Through our research and through conversations with students and partners statewide, we consistently hear how even a small cost increase can destabilize a student’s path to a degree,” Dominguez said.

Following the UC Regents’ decision to renew the plan, UCSA released a statement on its Instagram.

“This means forever tuition hikes, pricing out future generations of UC students,” the statement read. “As students, we have a responsibility to hold campus administration accountable to use these discretionary funds to support students and push for transparency of their expenditures.”