Editorial:

For college students, many of whom are on limited incomes, a 32% increase in fees can mean dire times, or could hamper their ability to continue their education.

That’s why students at UC Irvine turned out by the hundreds Tuesday to demonstrate against the increase that was approved by the UC Board of Regents.

About 300 students congregated in front of the administration building to protest the increase.

“For the UCI community, I believe that this protest has been a big success,” student Marleen Castillo told Daily Pilot reporter Candice Baker.

We at the Pilot are opposed to the excessive increase, which will cause tuition to cost more than $10,000 next year, three times more than that paid by UC students 10 years ago.

It is simply unfair, and jolting, to students who have planned for certain costs and who were unaware that those costs would triple.

If you must raise fees, why not do it gradually, over a period of years, to lessen the shock value?

Ask yourself this: How many financially-strapped students will be marginalized by this increase? And do you really want a net effect of hampering students’ ability to plan their educations?

We are also heartened by the activism of students across California, and especially those attending UCI.

Young people have voiced their opposition to the increase and have done so peaceably and without incident.

If there is a silver lining in this cloud, it’s that students have been spurred on to participate in the process.

Valuable lessons can be learned by organizing protests, and who knows, maybe the Board of Regents will listen to the collective outcry, and change course.