Students at the University of California and California State University will face huge fee increases when they return in the fall and may see additional fee hikes later this year if the state's fiscal crisis worsens.

Reeling from budget cuts, the UC finance committee voted Wednesday to raise fees 25 percent and to give the UC president authority to raise them 30 percent. The full board of regents is expected to approve the increase today. The CSU trustees voted to raise fees 30 percent.

Since December, fees will have risen roughly 40 percent at the two institutions, calling to mind the tremendous increases during the recession of the early 1990s. And at least for UC, the fees could go up again this year and next year, said Larry Hershman, UC vice president for budget.

"Whatever this budget looks like, the next one will be a bigger problem," he said.

California's public universities have always taken pride in offering eligible students a high quality, low-cost education. But both CSU and UC are now considering restricting enrollment to reduce costs.

CSU is planning to curb enrollment by 2 percent this year, which would mean turning away 8,000 students it had planned to enroll for the winter and spring terms.

UC officials and regents used the most severe language to date Wednesday to describe the financial problems plaguing the university.

They may decide in November to turn away at least 5,000 UC-eligible students for the fall 2004-05 school year.

That would be a significant policy shift for the university, which for more than 40 years has promised a spot to all qualified students somewhere in its nine-campus system.

The UC Regents may also consider imposing a $1,000 surcharge on families making more than $90,000. The plan would forge new territory: No university in the nation charges the well-to-do more than other students.

"This is a horrendous situation we're facing," said UC Regent Sherry Lansing.

The fee increase means that CSU undergraduates will see their fees increase $474 annually to $2,544.

A 25 percent increase at UC would raise resident undergraduate fees to $5,247. If UC President Richard Atkinson bumps that to 30 percent, it would be $5,437.

The CSU Regents approved the increase 11-2 with student regent Alex Lopez and Trustee Ricardo Icaza opposing it. The UC Regents finance committee approved it 5-4.

"It's pretty dramatic and unusual given the history of affordable fees at UC," said Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley, who added that the legislative deadlock forced UC's hand.

"It's another clear indication that the budget deadlock isn't going to hit poor people around California but will hit the pocketbooks of middle-class families in Walnut Creek, Los Angeles and all over the state."

Students from middle-income families who don't qualify for full financial aid will bear the brunt of the increase, said UC Regent Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

"We're pricing out a whole group of working-class and middle-class families," he said. "This increase lacks vision, and it's shortsighted in a down economy."

The university will try to blunt the impact with a new student aid plan to cover 50 percent of the increase for students from families with annual incomes between $60,000 and $90,000 who also qualify as needy under federal guidelines.

That would help roughly 10 percent of the university's 160,000 undergraduates. Student aid programs would fully cover the increase for another 64,000 students from low-income families.

The discussion at the UC Regents meeting was at times emotional, with Bustamante challenging Hershman's assertion that UC is still a bargain.

Taking into account the tremendous financial aid UC offers its students, attending the university -- including paying for room and board -- would still be cheaper than most of the other universities to which UC likes to compare itself, such as the University of Michigan and SUNY Buffalo, Hershman told the regents.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," responded Bustamante.

The remark clearly embarrassed several regents, at least two of whom apologized to Hershman for the lieutenant governor's words.

The University of California has had an 18 percent increase in enrollment over the past three years and a 6 percent drop in funding from the state.

Gov. Gray Davis proposal to cut an additional $300 million from UC's $3 billion budget for 2003-04 has touched off significant cuts in student services, outreach, research and libraries. Layoffs and plans for further layoffs are under way in most of those areas.

An additional proposed one-time $80.5 million reduction to UC's budget could force the university to restrict enrollment if the cut becomes permanent, UC officials said.

And an even bleaker scenario looms: One legislative proposal on the table would cut UC's budget by an additional $400 million.

UC President Richard Atkinson, who is not given to hyperbolic statements, said he was "stunned" by the governor's proposed budget cuts earlier this year and added "And now to think that may be the tip of the iceberg ... is hard to believe."

Before December 2002, neither university system had raised fees in eight years. Several UC regents said the university must develop a more gradual fee increase plan so that students and their families aren't hit during downturns in the economy when they can least afford it.

"We're raising fees at the worst possible time," said UC Regent Ward Connerly.