Setting the record straight on UC Berkeley’s efforts on equity

In his June 10 op-ed column, “Subprime college educations,” George F. Will conflated increasing tuition and student debt with attempts to create an equitable and inclusive environment at public teaching and research universities.

The United States will not emerge from its economic doldrums if it does not access its entire talent pool. Our efforts on equity and inclusion at the University of California, Berkeley, aim to do exactly that. Undergraduate in-state tuition is a little more than $12,000 a year, which is a small fraction of the cost of education at the school. But this amount is paid only by students from families whose incomes are more than $140,000; students from families with annual incomes of less than $80,000 pay no tuition — their educations are free. The average debt of our students upon graduation is $8,000, not the inflated example of $100,000 that Mr. Will reported.

Our vice chancellor for equity and inclusion, Gibor Basri — whose salary Mr. Will mentioned — is a distinguished astrophysicist, and he carries out research and teaching while meeting his responsibilities as vice chancellor. So far we have raised more than $30 million in private funds from individuals, foundations and corporations to support our efforts in equity and inclusion. This includes endowed funds of $26 million, which helps provide scholarships for graduate students, cover part of the salaries of the participating faculty and support research into how we can achieve a more equitable and inclusive society in all domains, including economics, health, education and democratic participation.

Robert J. Birgeneau, Berkeley, Calif.

The writer is chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley.