Later this month, the UC Board of Regents will consider hiking tuition by $282 a year, in addition to a $54 student service fee to help improve mental health services. The tuition hike, which would take effect in fall 2017, is the first since 2011.
If approved, the new funds would go toward increasing financial aid and reducing class size.
Two-thirds of the system's undergraduates would have the increase covered by financial aid, according to UC.
The university system has been pushing to add an additional 10,000 California students over the three years, leading to the largest single-year increase in state resident enrollment since World War II.