> Rich kids can afford the full price. Poor students can't afford to move to get residency to qualify for in state tuition.
Yes, wealth makes you able to afford things you could not afford without that wealth. That's true by definition.
I'm not sure how that makes it unfair that the State of California subsidizes tuition for residents (but not nonresidents) regardless, in either case, of visa status.
The State of California generally serves, in order of priority, citizens of the State of California, non-citizen residents of the State of California, and then, maybe, sometimes, non-citizen non-residents of the State of California.
I'm not seeing any unfairness in the State subsidizing UC education for the first two groups but not the third.
> Also at 17 18yoa you have not paid into the tax system
Yes, you probably have. You may not have paid income tax, but income tax isn't the only significant State of California general fund tax. You've probably paid a lot of sales tax.
(If you are financially independent at that age as a resident, you've probably paid state income tax, too; if you aren't, then you probably aren't paying the tuition yourself in any case, and the people who probably are probably the people that are paying your other expenses, who, if you are a resident, have probably paid plenty in both income and sales tax in the state.)
Yes, wealth makes you able to afford things you could not afford without that wealth. That's true by definition.
I'm not sure how that makes it unfair that the State of California subsidizes tuition for residents (but not nonresidents) regardless, in either case, of visa status.
The State of California generally serves, in order of priority, citizens of the State of California, non-citizen residents of the State of California, and then, maybe, sometimes, non-citizen non-residents of the State of California.
I'm not seeing any unfairness in the State subsidizing UC education for the first two groups but not the third.
> Also at 17 18yoa you have not paid into the tax system
Yes, you probably have. You may not have paid income tax, but income tax isn't the only significant State of California general fund tax. You've probably paid a lot of sales tax.
(If you are financially independent at that age as a resident, you've probably paid state income tax, too; if you aren't, then you probably aren't paying the tuition yourself in any case, and the people who probably are probably the people that are paying your other expenses, who, if you are a resident, have probably paid plenty in both income and sales tax in the state.)