The governor's newest budget plan dropped no more bruising cuts on higher education, but there is financial pain left over for the 608,000 students attending the state's public universities.

University of California and California State University will raise student fees by 25 percent. Coupled with December's 10 percent hike, rates will have shot up by an unprecedented 35 percent in less than a year.

The majority of university administrators defended fee increases as necessary to help balance their budgets, and they reacted with relief that the governor's newest budget delivered no additional cuts to the university systems.

"I think we should thank the governor for stepping up to the plate for us at this critical moment," Regent Judith Hokinson said at a regent's meeting in San Francisco this week.

Still, UC is bracing for double-digit percentage cuts to departments including research, administration, student services and libraries.

California is facing a $38 billion budget deficit. While the Legislature has yet to agree on a budget, Gov. Gray Davis this week revised budget plans and called for raising the sales tax, taxes on cars and cigarettes, and borrowing funds to cover the red ink. The budget restored $305 million in proposed cuts to the state's community college system, as well as restored some funding to public schools – including the popular but expensive program to reduce class size.

Community college students still will pay higher fees, $18 per unit rather than $24 as initially proposed. Fees are now $11 per unit.

The newest fee increases are expected to be adopted in June and July by UC and CSU. For the 408,000 CSU students, tuition will soon run $1,968 per year, not including campus fees, books, food, housing and transportation. For UC students, the college bill will cost $3,916 per year for undergraduates, and $4,416 for graduate students.

Some Cal State officials warned that despite the governor's revised budget projections, they expect the state to cut even more from their budget this year and next, before a final state spending plan is adopted sometime this summer.

"While we can breathe a sigh of relief for now, that doesn't mean the crisis is over. There are many more plans out there that can affect us," said Patrick Lenz, assistant vice chancellor for finance.

Even with the back-to-back fee increases, CSU still would cost less than many other state universities nationwide. In a survey of a dozen similar systems, fees range from as high as $7,300 at New Jersey's Rutgers University and $4,123 per year for the University of Texas at Arlington.