My Plan for the UC’s Future >>:
"Students are justifiably angry over my recent proposal to raise their fees by nearly a third over the next two years. I’m angry too. As an educator who has dedicated my career to the incredible promise of public education, it pains me to see this uniquely American institution under assault. This country’s land grant institutions – of which UC is the finest – represent a contract between the states and their namesake universities to educate outstanding students, regardless of their ability to pay, so that they may go on to serve the public and advance society’s interests.
We at the University of California have upheld our end of the deal: giving students of all backgrounds a world-class education, generating life-changing knowledge (we earned our 56th and 57th Nobel prizes this month), providing medical care and contributing to our state’s cultural, scientific and economic life. Meanwhile, our partner, the state, has been systematically divesting from the University. In 1990, we received the equivalent of $15,860 in today’s dollars from the state per student: that figure is now $7730. In other words, we have half as much in state funds to spend per student as we did twenty years ago."
"Students are justifiably angry over my recent proposal to raise their fees by nearly a third over the next two years. I’m angry too. As an educator who has dedicated my career to the incredible promise of public education, it pains me to see this uniquely American institution under assault. This country’s land grant institutions – of which UC is the finest – represent a contract between the states and their namesake universities to educate outstanding students, regardless of their ability to pay, so that they may go on to serve the public and advance society’s interests.
We at the University of California have upheld our end of the deal: giving students of all backgrounds a world-class education, generating life-changing knowledge (we earned our 56th and 57th Nobel prizes this month), providing medical care and contributing to our state’s cultural, scientific and economic life. Meanwhile, our partner, the state, has been systematically divesting from the University. In 1990, we received the equivalent of $15,860 in today’s dollars from the state per student: that figure is now $7730. In other words, we have half as much in state funds to spend per student as we did twenty years ago."