The UC's carrot-and-stick approach stems from the way the state budget is set up: If Brown's tax initiative - known as Proposition 30 - passes, and the university freezes its tuition, it would receive an extra $125 dollars. That's new money the UC hasn't received in years. If Prop 30 fails, the university would take a $250 million mid-year cut. So President Mark Yudof is warning students that Prop 30 is the only realistic way to keep tuition down:
Yudof: "They need to know it, their families need to know it and their friends and neighbors need to know it."
The potential 20 percent tuition increase would add up to about $2,500 a student.
The No on Prop 30 campaign doesn't appreciate the UC's carrot-and-stick approach. It calls it a "false choice and an irresponsible threat to hold higher education hostage."
