Further proof that English Lit just doesn't pay
By: Ken Garcia
Examiner Staff Writer
10/14/09 1:05 PM PDT
It's hard to tell exactly who came up with this latest revenue generating plan for the UC system, but I'll guess that is wasn't somebody involved in the engineering business.
That's because some nameless bean-counter has unearthed an idea that would require undergrad students studying engineering and business at UC campuses to pay up to $1,000 more per year than their fellow majors. And if you think the plan has caught fire, it's only because engineering and business students want the plan torched.
It's one thing for graduate schools to add extra fees and quite another for undergrads to be hit with a surcharge, which is why it's never been done in California. Some UC officials say the two fields were singled out because their faculty members have higher salaries and graduates from those programs generally find better-paying jobs after college. And if it looks like some money-hungry bureaucrat came up with that justification for hiking fees already further than they have, you'd be right.
Chances are that there's going to be significant push-back from student organizations when the plan comes before regents, possibly next month. But if the trustees want to redeem themselves from being accused of seeming unnecessarily greedy, they'll drop this plan unless they really like viewing protesters arrested at their meetings.
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