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UC To Consider Annual Tuition Increases Instead Of Spikes

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Just as classes were getting underway for the fall semester, the University of California was looking to give students a more accurate financial forecast as they pursue higher education.

Students have seen tuition hikes sometimes twice a year recently, and regents are now considering whether to spread that out a little more consistently. Specifically, they are contemplating whether to impose annual tuition hikes over the next five years - of up to 16%.

That means "basic" tuition could top more than $22,000 in four years, and that doesn't include books, fees and living expenses.

Still, the exact size of the yearly increase was still very much up in the air, hinging in large part on the amount of state funding UC receives. If recent history was any indication, though, that money was drying up. This year, California cut $650 million, and next winter would likely be worse, unless state revenues improved.

KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:

"When I started as chancellor, the state was the number one source of funding. Now, the state ranks fourth and it's actually a distant fourth," UC Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau said in his annual press briefing before the start of the 2011-2012 school year. "Our challenge now and going forward with a very different financial model is how do we maintain the values of Berkeley, how do we maintain our public character when the public itself has dis-invested in our higher education system?

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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