This is an op-ed I wrote for my journalism class. It's just a draft but I'll be happy to hear comments on it and see if anyone else feels the same way.
Basically it's a rant about how I've had to bend over and take it because of the out-of-state tuition being so expensive.
I won't lie to you. I'm a socialist. Or at least I would be if I didn't live in America land of opportunity and greedy capitalism. But I live in the Socialist Republic of Northern California where Californians think they have a perfect system. I moved to this foreign country to take advantage of their state universities; supposedly affordable and high-quality. Obviously, I wasn't thinking clearly when I made the decision.
When I started at UC Davis, my yearly tuition was roughly fifteen thousand. This isn't exactly cheap, but it's better than an Ivy League. As I worked my way through school and hit my forth year my tuition nearly doubled to over twenty-four thousand (we partly have Ahnold to thank for this). If this seems like a lot to you, that's because it is. I could have gone to Yale for around thirty thousand and private schools actually offer poor souls such as me more financial aid.
But the UCs have their reasons for charging non-residents so much. The main reason as I understand it is that the schools are partly funded by state taxes and policy makers feel state taxes should go to help state residents only. I can accept this logic. What I can't accept is that there is no way to become a resident without sacrificing great quantities of time. I once called the registrar's office to haggle with them about my residency status. The conversation went something like this:
Me: How do I go about changing my residency status?
Them: Well, you have several options: you can quit for a year and work full time or you can prove that you have been financially independent for a year.
Me: What do you mean financially independent?
Them: You can't have accepted money from any sources outside of California. You can't have been declared as a dependent.
Me: You mean I have to pay my living expenses and out-of-state tuition on my own? Are you nuts?
Them: Yes I know the rules are strict. But we really don't want non-residents taking advantage of our system without having paid taxes in California for several years.
Me: But I work here and I'm registered to vote here and my car is registered here. I have a California state driver's license. Why am I not a resident?
Them: You are a resident of California, just not for University purposes. Anything else I can help you with?
Me: Is there any other way to become a resident for tuition purposes?
Them: You can marry a California resident.
Me: Uhhhh... Thanks... Bye.
At that point I accepted my fate and bought a jar of Vaseline. As I near graduation I realize that there is a terrible flaw in the Universities logic. With my debt being over seventy thousand dollars and the cost of living being so high in California I have plans to move to the east coast a week after graduation. I am sure many other out-of-staters make the same decision. Let me move somewhere that I can afford to live and pay off my debt. Here's where California is making a terrible mistake. I have not fallen in love with this state of financial woe and now I am leaving no matter what is offered to me. Whatever intellectual gain I have made, California will never get a chance to see it. Whatever pollution my car caused, road damage I created, state services, state financial aid, and public places I have used, they are all coming with me when I leave. The universities may have gotten my money, but the state of California will never see my income taxes.