Student protesters woke up early Thursday to rally over possible tuition hikes being discussed later at the UC Regents meeting at the Mission Bay campus in San Francisco.
This is the third day the regents have met and they are expected to approve a budget.
"They should be rolling back tuition not talking about raising it, " UC Berkeley student Robbie Nelson said. He had camped out overnight near Mission Bay with about 35 others. He cited a budget proposal where tuition rates would go up by 24 percent, a number he thought was completely unreasonable. He and others carried signs that said "No More Cuts, No More Hikes."
The major university news came on Wednesday though, when Gov. Jerry Brown attended the UC regents meeting - he was trying to convince the regents hike tuitions this year, especially since Prop. 30 passed giving the state "breathing room" in terms of having extra money.
But at that meeting, the regents said they need $276 million dollars from the state to keep tuition from going up after deep spending cuts. Brown didn't commit to that, and said that wasn't a realistic number.
The governor also attended Tuesday's meeting of the California State University Board of Trustees in Long Beach, where the board agreed to postpone a vote on three new fees at Brown's request.
Brown said Tuesday that the UC and CSU systems must keep a lid on costs and tuition a week after voters approved Proposition 30, which temporarily raises taxes to fund K-12 schools and colleges.
