UC Berkeley Students Protest High Cost of College Following Tuition Hike
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of a pivotal day in the Free Speech Movement, students at UC Berkeley plan to protest an upcoming spike in their tuition.
The rally, which was scheduled to start Tuesday at noon, will take place at Sproul Plaza, the location where Berkeley students held a demonstration on Dec. 2, 1964, in protest of a campus ban on political advocacy, reports The Associated Press. Following that event, the students held a sit-in in the administration building, and 814 people were arrested. This is regarded as the peak of the Free Speech Movement.
Now, current students will commemorate the historic date in their college history by protesting against a plan to increase tuition for each of the next five years.
"We will continue to speak out against tuition hikes that have continued to deny Californians the right to an affordable education and against privatization of our public education," said one of the rally organizers, Open University, in a press release, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Last month, the regents committee that controls the University of California system voted to increase tuition at its 10 campuses by as much as 5 percent a year over the next five years.
The vote approved a proposal backed by UC President Janet Napolitano that would raise tuition and fees for in-state students from $12,192 to $15,564 by the 2019-20 school year, the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to Napolitano, the hike would cover the rising costs of pensions and salaries and allow UC to hire more faculty and boost the number of California undergraduates by 5,000. She also said the increase was contingent on cuts to state funding to the 10-campus system.
However, Gov. Jerry Brown, an opponent of the tuition increase, argues that officials should conduct an in-depth study to help students graduate in three years, offer more online courses and consolidate programs.
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