The University of California system will not increase its tuition this summer, according to President Janet Napolitano in an announcement on Feb. 18.

Napolitano and the UC Board of Regents have faced increasing ire since their announcement in November that UC tuition would go up by five percent per year starting this year. Last week’s unexpected delay is designed to appease current and prospective students, who perceive the increases as an affront.

“We are doing this as a good faith gesture, optimistic that the ongoing negotiations will bear fruit,” Napolitano said in her address, which took place at the University of Southern California. “It is our conviction that all parties engaged in these negotiations want tuition to be as low as possible, and as predictable as possible.”

In April, Gov. Jerry Brown promised to invest more revenue from the state’s general fund in helping the UC system cover costs, as long as the UC agreed not to increase tuition. Brown has been locked in negotiations with UC leadership for months over the proposed tuition spike.

“We continue to work closely with the University of California and the legislature on a budget proposal that reduces the university’s cost structure, while increasing access and quality,” Brown’s spokesman, Evan Westrup, said.

Despite cooperation at high levels, there has been no significant referendum to involve students in the proposal for fee increases. On Feb. 8, the University of California Student Association passed a symbolic vote of no confidence in Brown. The unanimous vote was indicative of the overwhelming tension that persists between students, Napolitano, and the Governor.

Students currently pay 6 percent more of the system’s core budget than the state does. According to the UC Berkeley student newspaper, The Daily Californian, if the state contributed more significantly to education, it would make the planned tuition increases unnecessary.

Speaking to USC students, Napolitano noted that state funding for the UC system remains the same in constant dollars as it was in 1997, despite an increase of 75,000 students to the system’s registry.

“That’s the statistical equivalent of adding an additional UCLA and UC Berkeley into the mix without receiving a dime more from the state,” she said.

Many Skyline students hope to transfer their Associate degrees to the UC system. Increasingly, people are struggling to reconcile their educational desires with economic realities.

“I was thinking about if I do get into Berkeley,” Lovepreet Sangha, a third-year computer science major, said. “Berkeley’s expensive. Not only that, but the cost of living there is really expensive too, compared to schools like Davis or Riverside or Merced. So that does make an impact. If we’re not able to pay for (tuition and cost of living), we pretty much can’t go to the school of our choice, because it’s too expensive or we can’t afford to live there.”