Nearly one week after the UC Regents increased student fees (the UC term for "tuition") by 32%, students, workers and faculty continue to fight back.  I'm proud to highlight 2 efforts by Asian American students.  First, I saw the University of California: Priceless video on the Student Activism blog this morning, and it damn near made me misty-eyed.  The one thing I would change is to focus on the total cost of education at UCSD and other UC campuses since the fee hike. In the video, they say that the fee hike comes out to $1,921.  That doesn't sound too bad, but let's break it down for a year and include living expenses (room & board).  Let's use UCLA as an example and look at the price tag for California residents for this Winter quarter 2010 (does not include an additional 16% increase to take effect in Fall 2010).

Room & Board estimate for one academic year (from LA Times): $16,000

Undergraduate mandatory fees: $10,031.13

Total Cost per Year for an undergrad: $26,031.13

Don't forget! This will increase another 16% in Fall 2010.

The second effort is by Greg Cendana, recent alumnus of UCLA, and current president of the US Student Association.  Greg recently was featured in an NPR piece "College Graduates Struggle to Repay Loans."

Of course we're reppin'! We make up a big proportion of UC students, which means Asian Americans are in some ways bearing a significant burden of these fee hikes.