UC fees were also much lower before then (even out-of-state tuition was not that high back then).
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UC fees were also much lower before then (even out-of-state tuition was not that high back then).
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That is correct. But then so was the cost of living and insurance. Between soaring rents and school costs, the UCs needed to do something to keep attracting the best and the brightest. They waived tuition to stay competitive.
I don’t believe that to be true. (I found a catalog from UCI circa 1980 which identified tuition waivers, i.e., ‘grant equal to Education Fee’, back then.)
Regardless, what UC did 30-40 years ago should have no bearing on the Grad programs in 2020.
UC fees are a kinda bookkeeping pass thru, so charged grad tuition itself is not that important. (UC could double the grad tuition, but they’d just have to double the dept budget to cover it; net effect is zero.) But perhaps what is significant is that the State Legislature gave a lot more $$ to UC back in the dark ages, so for that reason, the campuses were able to keep tuition/fees much lower than they are today. In other words, its was the state support that was important, not the tuition/fees charged to students.
This may have been a UCI or specific-department only. My husband was in the comparative literature PhD program at Berkeley 77-85. He paid tuition every quarter except for the year he studied in Paris and the 3 years he got a grant from the CIA to study/pass exams in a bizarre language. (In exchange he was to make himself available if the CIA found a need for Americans speaking said bizarre language.)
Getting that UCI grant would have been easier, though perhaps less interesting 
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In other words, its was the state support that was important, not the tuition/fees charged to students.
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@bluebayou I’d agree with that. Tuition wasn’t much of an issue then. I knew undergrads at Berkeley who put themselves through college (without loans) just by having a part time job during the school year, and working full time+ during the summers.
UCSC goes to online classes. Obviously, TA’s needed even more now, but then with campus closed, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the strikers.
https://news.ucsc.edu/2020/03/urgent-ucsc-suspending-in-person-classes-in-response-to-covid19.html
Online classes can be recorded & replayed on demand = less need for teaching TAs.
That may cover the lecture portion of a course, but TAs are often in courses with recitation, or lab sections and they usually independently teach one or more sections. And it’s not just wet labs like chem or bio, but also hands-on labs in engineering, computer science, nutrition, geography, geology, and so many more.
@csfmap: I understand that TAs are intergral to lab sections, but you wrote that “TAs needed even more now” and I think that it is less because they can be relieved of their teaching duties with respect to lectures as those can be videotaped.
My kiddo’s school specifically said that the online classes will NOT be recorded and the students must attend. Discussion sessions with TAs will also be online, I would imagine that TAs will be much busier during this time than normal because the students need to adapt to the new process.
But if Online is the new normal then I am sure they will record it. Not sure if TAs will hold less sessions, though.
Publisher - I wasn’t the one who wrote TAs would be needed more. I was responding to your reply that they will be needed less because lectures will be recorded.
You assume TAs are in lecture- some are, many aren’t. If they are expected to be in lecture or participating in lectures, that likely won’t change with remote instruction. But, whatever their assignment, in R1 universities TAs play a critical role in teaching undergraduates.
Maintaining the same quality of instruction while shutting down in-person instruction to slow the spread of Coronavirus is going to be very difficult. It’s going to be especially hard for classes that have an associated lab and TAs run a lot of those labs. It’s a rough situation for everyone, and I’m sure university staffs are struggling to figure things out.
I understand, but disagree.
Sorry for attributing the quote to you when it was made by another.
UCs need a solution. If raising tuition is politically unfeasible, then remote (online) recorded classes are an option to consider to lessen the need for TAs & adjuncts.
There are real issues on both sides–TAs versus UCsystem–and they won’t resolve themselves. In order to be more efficient, it seems as though better use of technology may be at least a partial solution.