Universities are constantly recruiting professors from one another, creating a kind of circulatory system that keeps higher education alive.

But Rice University's jarring hire of three prominent UC San Diego cancer researchers earlier this year sent shock waves through the University of California system, and UC leaders are using the issue to illustrate why students will be asked to pay more than ever for their education this year.

UC regents on Thursday will consider raising undergraduate tuition nearly 10 percent for the fall term, which begins next month at some campuses, including UC Berkeley. Taken in combination with another increase approved by the board in November, UC students would pay about 18 percent more than they did last fall.

California State University leaders, meanwhile, are set to vote this week on a 12 percent tuition increase, which would