Echo Times

Issue date: 12/9/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Nick Madden Student Diane Ascher says she will not pay for the tuition increase on principle.

Tuition fees have risen across the board in California, and some students are lashing out. Recent protests at the UC campuses have resulted in the arrests of students, whose call for financial relief has fallen on deaf ears. At College of Marin, Diane Ascher, a student, has refused to pay the recent increase in fees as her form of protest. Ascher said she had paid for her classes, yet when the California State Legislature and the state voted to raise fees she owed an additional $54.

In an email from COM's Director of Communications and Community Relations, Cathy Summa-Wolfe, said that enrollment fees at all California community colleges are now $26 per unit for California residents (in accordance with the state budget bill signed last summer), and that students who receive financial aid may be covered. "Otherwise," she said, "students are obliged to pay the fees… not paying the fees could have consequences."

"I'm worried that I'll be kicked out of classes," Ascher said, regarding her decision to withhold payment.
Robert P. Balestreri, Interim Dean of Enrollment Services, said, in an email, "The student will not be dropped from her classes; however, she will not be able to register in any subsequent semesters, and she will not be able to access grades or receive an official academic transcript unless all her fees are paid in full."

Ascher says she will refuse payment simply out of principle. "I'm saying no," she said, "my basic idea is you can't just change a contract on one side and of course I'll try and register for classes next semester."

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