CSULB has the lowest fees of any four-year university in California and the lowest fees among the 23 California State University campuses.
The cost of attending a four-year public university in the U.S. for the 2008-2009 academic year averaged $6,585, private institutions averaged $25,143, University of California averaged $8,007 and CSU averaged $3,849, according to a press release. The average cost of attending CSULB was $3,392 for the year.
The average costs include only state and campus fees, and exclude textbooks, parking permits, ID cards, supplies, food and housing.
CSU campuses charged a state university fee of $3,048 for full-time undergraduate students in fall 2008. However, each campus has its own set of additional fees of up to $801. CSULB’s campus fees were $344.
The extra fees cover health services, technology enhancements, building projects, student organizations and other instructional activities.
Although “many universities throughout the nation have turned to student tuition and fees as a primary funding source, I am pleased to say that we have fought hard to maintain our affordability better than the vast majority of campuses nationwide,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander in an e-mail.
About one-third of CSULB students graduate in debt, but their debt is lower than the national average, he said.
U.S. News & World Report has also recognized CSULB as one of the top five comprehensive schools in the Western United States. The Princeton Review also recently ranked CSULB among the top 50 “best value” public colleges in the nation for the third year in a row.
The President’s Scholars Program has also rewarded more than 900 full-ride scholarships to CSULB students who were high school valedictorians and National Merit Scholars.
“Compared to what my parents were paying for a year at Bosco High School, CSULB is inexpensive. My parents were paying almost $8,000 a year [at Bosco]. So $3,000 or so is pretty cheap for a quality education,” said CSULB freshman Luis Ramirez.
However, some do not consider CSULB’s fees cheap.
“Attending CSULB might be more inexpensive than other CSUs, but it still is not quite affordable,” said Gabriela Ramirez, a senior business major.
In fall 2008, 37,891 students attended CSULB, making it the largest campus in the CSU system and the second largest university in the state. California’s first largest university is UCLA, which enrolled 39,650 students in fall 2008.