Giving Compass' Take:

• The University of California's System's Board of Regents approved a four-year budget plan that will allow enrollment to grow by 2,500 students without raising tuition. 

• According to the author, this plan is thought to be a pathway toward boosting graduation rates and addressing nationwide enrollment declines.  The UC plan asks for additional state funding to make this a reality. 

• Read about how the University of California supports its low-income students. 

The University of California System's Board of Regents approved a $9.3 billion budget last week that will be used to boost next year's undergraduate enrollment by 2,500 students without raising tuition, the Los Angeles Times reported. The budget is the first part of a four-year plan to grow the student body, bolster student success and spend more on research.

The regents' budget plan asked for $277.6 million of additional state funding, of which $63.8 million would be earmarked to avoid tuition hikes. The system is also projecting to take in more than $100 million in tuition and fees from the larger enrollment and an additional $70.4 million in donations, investments and cost savings, the Times reported.

The UC spending plan is an effort to address a thorny batch of problems that colleges and universities face, including a need to boost graduation rates and combat nationwide enrollment declines.

A recent report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) found state funding for higher education has declined since 2008 by more than $7 billion, when adjusted for inflation. Meanwhile, public bachelor's colleges saw a 20% increase in net tuition revenue per student between the 2005-06 and 2015-16 academic years, but only a 2% increase in their total revenues due to diminished government support, according to a recent report by the College Board.

Beyond addressing tuition levels and state aid, the UC four-year plan attempts to tackle other issues, including access to college. Boosting enrollment at the Merced location has the potential to do just that, as it has the largest proportion of low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students out of all the UC campuses. In an effort to make room for more students and build new facilities, Merced is underway with a $1.3 billion project that completed its first phase over the summer.

Read the full article about tuition costs by James Paterson at Education Dive