By David Ezekiel, research associate, Public Policy Institute of California
This commentary appeared in The Daily Californian on June 17, 2013
When I graduated from UC Berkeley — 2010 — my annual fees were 36 percent higher than they had been in my freshman year. Since then, fees have increased further, due largely to the state’s disinvestment in public higher education. Students will get a reprieve from more increases this year, but they will still pay fees that are quadruple what they were in 1990. Rising costs led more of my fellow students and those who came after to go into debt to pay for college. And increasing student debt has ignited a debate over the question: Is college worth it?