Rationale & Worker Stories

Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition (NRST) is an unfair burden on non-resident student workers, especially international scholars who, despite living in California, do not qualify for residency. Non-residents are currently charged as much as $15,000 more in tuition than California residents, causing rushed time-to-degree and difficulty obtaining on-campus research and teaching employment.

International scholars have to pay onerous fees, such as the SEVIS fee, that cut into their already-low wages. For some workers, these fees can be thousands of dollars a year. Other institutions cover these fees and UC needs to step up and cover them too.

We are fighting back against the practice of charging people more based solely on the country of their birth. NRST and visa fees are discriminatory financial mechanisms that penalizes low-income immigrants, and closes off talent to UC.