UC President Mark Yudof said UC benefits all Californians, not only the students who attend the universities or the communities where campuses are located, writer Larry Mitchell reported in the Chico Enterprise-Record.

"The UC trains doctors at its medical schools, and it provides programs like UC Cooperative Extension, which helps farmers," the story paraphrased Yudof, who was in Chico Tuesday to speak to meetings of the Chico Chamber of Commerce and the Chico Rotary Club.

Yudof has been traveling around the state to dispel "myths" about the University of California. Included among the myths is the notion that the cost of a UC degree is out of reach for most people. Yudof said half the students pay no tuition.

The University of California is "the greatest public institution (of higher learning) in the world. We cannot let it deteriorate," Yudof said.