Have you ever wondered how much you pay for tuition in comparison to your friends each quarter? Certainly, California residents pay way less than nonresidents. Yet, local students moan about the tuition hike and how much it hurts Californian families. How about nonresidential students?
Simply, if you are not a California resident, you get charged with a higher price for the same education. Although California residents pay taxes to fund California universities while nonresidents and international students do not have to, the tuition for non-residents and international students is still unfairly high. Perhaps, American students still get financial aid support. International students especially suffer the most of all.
If you took a basic microeconomics class, the case of imposing two different tuition prices is the perfect illustration to explain the abstract concept of price discrimination. From the start, UC Davis tuition discriminates into two sub-categories: California residents and nonresidents. The nonresident and international student’s tuition includes the amount that California residents pay, plus the “Nonresident Supplemental Tuition,” costing $22,878 yearly. With this $22,878, a California student can afford another year of school, including books, groceries, housing and perhaps shopping. What hurts most international students more is that there is no health insurance included, whereas some American students may have this paid by their parents.
Every year, the most exciting news for us — international students — is not who won at the Super Bowl, but whether Gov. Brown’s UC Regents budget allocation is adequate so there is no big increase in yearly tuition. Especially harsh for students who come from countries with high inflation and exchange rates, their families possibly can’t continue to support further education for their children overseas.
In conclusion, there are arguable reasons to explain why California residents should pay less. However, tuition for nonresidents and international students is still unfairly high. As Spring Quarter is starting with a new wave of bright student senators, please put more attention to help this group of silent minority — international students. In the end, we are the people who have the weakest voice on the campus.
Vy Nguyen
Third-year economics major
mvhnguyen@ucdavis.edu
