After days of protests and the arrests of dozens of angry students, on Thursday the University of California Board of Regents voted to increase tuition fees by 32% next fall.

The university will cost about three times as much as it did a decade ago, making the UC schools among the nation’s higher-priced public universities.

Budget cuts in the Sunshine state, topping $30 billion over the last two years, have touched all aspects of state government, including higher education which has been slashed by $2.8 billion this year, including $813 million from the university system. The cuts have led to:

• 1900 employee lay offs
• The elimination of 3,800 positions
• Hiring deferment of 1600 position (most of them faculty)
• Mandatory leaves of absence for professors, administrators and clerical workers, averaging pay cuts of 8%
• Class cuts resulting in larger class sizes and the shut out of dozens of undergrads that they need the classes to fulfill major and graduation requirements
• And as of this fall, a huge increase in undergraduate fees, will bring the annual tuition to $10,000

A recent decision to end Berkeley’s tradition of keeping the library open 24 hours during finals was met by anger from students and a resulting pledge of $30,000 from parents to pay for found-the-clock library access, but such a bail out is unprecedented.

Students and professors worry that the cutbacks in spending and increase in tuition will risk the system’s ability to provide a top-quality education to California students, particularly those from low-income families who make up more than 33% of the student body. Also in danger is the university’s reputation as a leader in higher education and research. Maintaining the edge without resources will likely prove difficult.

What can you do?

• Write to elected officials to demand a bailout for public education! The government bailed out the banks and Wall Street. Where is the bail out for public education?