If the University of California wants to raise some quick cash – say, $80 million over four years – it should consider charging non-Californians thousands of dollars more to attend its three most popular campuses, says a new report from the state’s Legislative Analyst’s office.
The report asks, effectively, why not? Other public university systems commonly charge higher rates at their flagship campuses, says the Legislative Analyst, an independent adviser to the state Legislature, suggesting that out-of-state applicants might even like to pay more for the privilege of attending one of UC’s most selective campuses: UC Berkeley, UCLA or UC San Diego.
“Families could view a higher sticker price as an indicator of higher quality,” claims the report from the office of Gabriel Petek, California’s Legislative Analyst, which said, “UC is unusual” among university systems in charging non-residents the same rate at each campus. The 12-page report said the University of Michigan, for example, charges out-of-state students 4.5 times more to attend its Ann Arbor campus than the one in Flint…