University of California Regents Approve 32 Percent Undergraduate Student Fee Increase

It is a disgrace that University of California regents have approved a 32 percent student fee increase for undergraduate students at UCLA for the next school year. They voted to approve this enormous increase despite protests by hundreds of demonstrators outside the regents' meeting at UCLA. By next fall, undergraduate fees will be boosted by $2,500, sending the average annual education cost at a UC campus to more than $10,000. The regents say they had to raise fees because the cash-strapped state government can't meet the university's funding needs.

As the economic woes continue, with mounting unemployment and foreclosures, many students will find a higher education less appealing because they simply cannot afford it. If the students can't get a college education at an affordable rate, then the university will also suffer adversely. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan lament that the educational standards in the United States have fallen. Gee, I wonder why? It will continue to nosedive unless something drastic is done. That includes giving students the financial resources to get a good college education as well.

The decision came as hundreds of students chanted and marched outside the meeting hall to protest the measure. Some students also took over another UCLA building and chained the doors shut. Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) is proposing a bailout for the postal service, but what about a bailout for Main Street? Why not freeze tuition increases and implement a moratorium on foreclosures for a year? President Obama, the United States Congress and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, as well as Larry Summers have failed the average working class American miserably. Stop handing Wall Street a blank check to do as they please. How about helping the millions of people, students included, who are suffering due to no fault of their own?