U.S. Santa Monica College Backs off from Tuition Hike After Protests

Santa Monica College temporarily backs off from tuition hike after protests

Sat Apr 7, 2012 9:40AM GMT

Officials at the Santa Monica College in Southern California have voted to postpone the implementation of a controversial two-tier tuition plan that prompted student protests and led to a pepper-spraying incident, Press TV reports.

The college’s Board of Trustees decided unanimously on Friday to adopt the measure during an emergency meeting two days after California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott voiced reservations about the proposal's legality, and requested that the school put the program on hold.

Under the plan, which was scheduled as a pilot program this summer, a nonprofit foundation would have offered high-demand core classes such as English, math and history at the full cost of $180 per credit unit, compared to the state-subsidized classes that cost $46 per credit unit.

College officials had said the plan was a response to make up for the cuts in state funding that have impacted public colleges across California.

The development comes days after dozens of students were pepper sprayed by campus police at the college campus while protesting outside a Board of Trustees meeting.

At least two people were hospitalized and several others injured in the incident, when a crowd of 100 people tried to enter the room where the meeting was being held.

Students argued that the plan would hurt low-income students who could not afford the added costs and would lead to the privatization of public education.

Several students involved in the protest attended the Friday emergency meeting. College President Chui Tsang said the pepper-spraying incident was "regrettable" and that an internal investigation had been launched.

MP/HJL

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