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For the first time in four years, UC leaders are proposing tuition increases — as much as 5% in each of the next five years — to help cover rising costs and to expand the enrollment of California students.

UC President Janet Napolitano is seeking tuition increases over the next five years but says they could be reduced with state help. (Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
UC President Janet Napolitano is seeking tuition increases over the next five years but says they could be reduced with state help. (Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

For undergraduates who are California residents, tuition next year could rise to $12,804, not including room, board and books. By the 2019-20 school year, that could increase to $15,564.

UC needs more money to help cover rising costs of retirement benefits, fund recent pay increases in employee contract settlements, hire more faculty and raise the number of California undergraduates by 5,000 over five years from the current 166,250, according to the proposal being formally released Thursday.

Given all those pressures and goals, a tuition freeze could not continue into a fourth year, UC system President Janet Napolitano said.

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