The cost of public higher education in the Golden State

I still believe that California is a great state to live in, even though I have never lived in other states but I have visited several of them. In spite of my statement it seems to be pretty obvious that living here is getting harder and harder every year, this might explain why a lot of Californians are moving somewhere else. Also, the fact that public higher education is getting more expensive is not helping on keeping Californians from leaving the state. If you don't believe me all you need to do is to read today's San Francisco Chronicle Insight section to get a few revealing numbers.

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Let me start saying that if you want to send your kid to study at the University of California (UC), a public university system, in 2010 you will have to pick your pocket for US$ 11,287 just on fees, based on a full time load of 15 units per semester. In the particular case that your kid is going to UC Berkeley - assuming he/she was admitted, which is a whole other story - the estimated one-year expenses for a California resident living in the residence halls (pretty common for the freshmen year) is reaching the ridiculous amount of US$ 30,544. Please, go ahead and read the following articles to face the sad reality that the current students, and their parents, are facing now: Students seek clout beyond campuses, Student's view of UC protests, UC offsetting fee increases with increased aid, UC regents president betray California students.

I don't have any kids to send to the UC, in fact I don't have any kids yet, but I can only imagine how much it will cost to send my kids to the UC system by the time they want to go there. It might be easier for them to go somewhere else to study, maybe abroad, or even not studying at all will be the option we will have to take since my wife and I most probably won't be able to afford it in the same way my parents paid for my entire education in a private university back in my home country.

Protesting.