My email Dear UC Regents, We are not indispensable machines. We are not ATM's. We have families. We have hopes.

We want to graduate. So why would you raise our tuition yet again? Why would you put this burden upon our backs? We are not gaining anything beneficial in return. We are dealing with larger classes, extreme student to teacher ratios, less financial aid, and a lesser ability to enjoy the few college years that we have. What are we gaining for what we are losing? Nothing in return. Does it pain you at all to see us suffer? Or is it okay because of the large paychecks that you receive? Do you feel pity for us at all when you approve each bill? I want to know answers and I need to hear that there are people with hearts making the decisions that affect us all. Sincerely yours, Christine Kim Their Response August 10, 2011 Dear Ms. Kim: Thank you for your email of August 8 to the University of Californias Board of Regents regarding the recent tuition increase the Board enacted. The Regents have asked me to respond on their behalf, and I am pleased to do so. I want you to know that The Regents and I share your deep dismay and anger over the necessity of this action. I have received a number of letters on this subject, so, of necessity, I am sending the same response to all, but please be assured that I have read each message The Regents and I have received. Let me begin by offering some background information. As you may know, the California State Budget Act for 2011-12 includes a $650 million reduction to the University of California (UC) for 2011-12 and a $1.7 billion reduction to higher education as a whole. The budget also fails to fund more than $360 million in mandatory costs, bringing UC's total current budget gap for 2011-12 to over $1 billion. This shortfall will grow to more than $2.5 billion by 2015-16 if the University does not identify new revenues and cost-saving measures. Unfortunately, the State has proved to be an unreliable funding partner. Adjusted for inflation and enrollment growth, UC now receives nearly 60 percent less funding per student from the State than it did in 1990. The dramatic drop in State support per student over the past 20 years has resulted in students being forced to shoulder an ever-increasing share of the cost of education: in 2011-12, for the first time in UCs history, students will pay a greater share of the

cost of education than the State.

The Chancellors and I have done everything we can to absorb this massive cut in a way that protects the quality of our students education experience. We have reduced costs and increased efficiency wherever possible. We are also raising revenue, whenever possible, from other sources. These measures, many of which involve significant sacrifice for our faculty and staff, enabled us to address nearly three-quarters of the $1 billion shortfall. In the end, however, faced with enormous cuts and the possibility that further reductions would lead to unrecoverable losses in quality, we have been forced to turn to students and their families for the remaining revenue. Let me be clear that this most recent tuition increase, which amounts to a 9.6 percent increase in mandatory systemwide charges, is in direct response to a last-minute decision by the Legislature and the Governor to reduce UCs budget by $650 million in 2011-12 instead of by $500 million. The revenue generated by the increase in tuition is the amount necessary to replace the additional $150 million in lost State funding. In addition, UCs budget could be reduced by another $100 million trigger cut later this year if State revenues fall short of projections. In short, UC has already taken an unprecedented and disproportionate share of State cuts this year and the situation will clearly be worse if the trigger cut is enacted. Please be assured that the University continues to hold three values at its core: quality, access, and affordability. In response to the massive and unprecedented cuts the University has taken, as you well know,our campuses have implemented layoffs, consolidated and eliminated programs, increased class sizes, delayed faculty hires, reduced levels and hours of service, delayed purchase of necessary equipment, and taken a variety of other actions to address their budget shortfall. In addition, the University is pursuing a major systemwide administrative efficiency initiative aimed at producing $500 million of positive fiscal impact over five years. The University is also increasing enrollment of nonresident undergraduates, whose high tuition and fee payments help support the instructional program for all students, aggressively seeking to increase private philanthropy, and exploring other alternative revenue sources. There are limits, however, to the extent that campuses can reduce cost without at some point embarking on an irreversible path of declining quality. In the wake of the additional $150 million State budget cut for 2011-12, we were forced to increase tuition so that UC can continue to deliver the high-quality education that you, your fellow students, and the citizens of California have come to expect and, frankly, deserve. Many have expressed concern about the effects of this tuition increase on access and affordability. We currently administer a world-class financial aid program in 2010-11, 69 percent of UC undergraduates received more than $2.3 billion in financial aid, including grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study from UC, State, federal, and outside agency sources. As a public institution, it is essential that UC remain accessible to all academically eligible undergraduates so that financial considerations are not an obstacle to enrollment.

The simple fact is that 55 percent of UC undergraduates will not pay this tuition increase in 2011-12. The University expects that institutional aid funds, together with expected Cal Grant award increases, will be sufficient to fully cover the additional tuition increase for UC grant and Cal Grant recipients, including those eligible for the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, and to cover 100 percent of the additional tuition increase for eligible financially needy undergraduates from families earning less than $120,000. We pride ourselves on keeping UC accessible to undergraduate students from all income groups, including low-income and middle-income students. You may be interested to know that UC enrolls a higher percentage of low-income Pell Grant recipients than any other top research university in the country. Some have also mentioned mounting debt levels and having to leave UC due to rising tuition and fees. No one should have to leave UC for this reason. To you and to your fellow students, I want to say that if you feel that your debt level is unmanageable or that you may have to leave the University due to rising charges, I implore you to discuss your financial aid options with your campus financial aid office. They stand ready to help you explore all options open to you. Some have written that UC should also reduce the salaries of its executives. Recruiting outstanding leaders who will help steer UC through these troubling times requires that we offer salaries commensurate with their experience; studies performed by outside consultants show our executives are paid significantly less than market. Excellence in administration is critical to fostering excellence in the classroom and laboratory. The salaries we pay are directly linked to the quality of the instructional program we provide; cutting leadership pay would only help lessen the quality of a UC education. I would like to clarify one point. The Regents do not receive any compensation for their services. They are and always have been unpaid, talented individuals dedicated to UC, and we are deeply grateful for their efforts. All of this being said, please know that raising tuition and fees is a loathsome choice for The Regents and for me. It is untenable that the State continues to slash support for UC. Given the States recent actions and possible future actions, now is the time to stand up and fight for UC. I strongly encourage you to join us and take your concerns directly to the State Capitol, where the actions necessitating fee increases are actually occurring. Please consider getting in touch with Legislators and the Governor through the UC for California webpage athttp://www.ucforcalifornia.org. It is vital that your voice be heard by Californias legislators; perhaps together we can persuade Sacramento to reduce or eliminate the possible trigger cut to UCs budget. A clear message needs to be sent by Californians that cuts to higher educations State support must stop. Otherwise, the high-quality UC education that has benefitted generations of students will surely erode. I appreciate your sharing your thoughts with The Regents, and I thank you in advance for expressing your thoughts to the Legislature and the Governor.

With best wishes, I am Sincerely yours, Mark G. Yudof President

My personal thoughts: This opened my mind more to the fact that this decision was made because of the STATEs decisions, so it trickled down to the UC Regents. What I wonder is why the state keeps on slashing UC funds. Have they lost faith? Do they not care? Have we failed them? Why do they keep doubting us? I appreciated Yudofs suggestion about taking action and fighting. Yes. Ill fight, Mark G. Yudof. Ill fight.