UC Still A Bargain Despite Rising Costs

BERKELEY (KCBS) -- Despite fee increases, more low-income students than ever are entering the University of California system, university officials said Friday.

Thirty-nine percent of undergraduates enrolling this fall come from families whose incomes fall below the $50,000 threshold for a federal Pell grant.

KCBS Melissa Culross Reporting

That's up from 32 percent the year before, according to UC President Mark Yudoff.

"Berkeley has more low-income kids than the whole Ivy League," he said, quick to refute criticism that a UC education is slipping out of reach of California students.

Few realize the silver lining in the fee hikes, one-third of which support the financial aid packages offered to students, Yudof said.

"The truth of the matter is when fees go up we have a much bigger pot of money for financial aid, basically all of it distributed on a need basis."

Yudoff adds that the system does it's best to fund transition programs for low income students. Its Blue and Gold Program, for example, tries to accommodate less affluent students by waiving all fees if the student's family income is below $70,000.

Educators point out that low-income students do need more than just breaks on tuition. Assistance with food and developing good study habits are just as important, said Delaine Eastin, a former California Superintendent of Public Instruction.

"They need other kinds of support and scaffolding to succeed," she said.

She credited deft fundraising by the chancellors with preserving a university system that once got half its funding from the state but now depends primarily on corporate funding.

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