Cal State University fees will rise next year after the CSU board of trustees approved a 10 percent fee increase on Wednesday.
The trustees said the increase was necessary to maintain CSU operations and that increases will be necessary until the state legislature gives greater priority to funding for higher education.
Trustee Melinda Guzman said that, although she has voted “pretty consistently” against student fee increases, she felt this one was necessary.
“If we don’t fill that gap, we will be looking at cutting programs [and] people,” she said.
Chancellor Charles Reed defended the increase, saying that the state’s “economic meltdown,” as well as the probable failure of the propositions in the May 19 election, could mean deep budget cuts for the CSU.
“I have seen ups and downs and recessions, but I have never seen what is happening now,” Reed said. “I don’t like this, but we don’t have any other choice.”
Reed also said that the increase will be offset by financial aid for students coming from households that make $75,000 or less a year.
Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander sympathized with the trustees and encouraged students to maximize their use of financial aid and tax credits to offset fee increases.
“I know this board doesn’t have a lot of recourse,” Alexander said. “The continual lack of investment in students is becoming more commonplace.”
He said the “silver lining” is that one-third of CSU fees are set aside to help the neediest students, and that the federal government has introduced $30 billion in new student aid, which will help lessen the financial burden for students.
According to Alexander, every family that makes less than $200,000 a year has access to either financial aid or tax credits, and that they “need to take full advantage” of these options.
Students who attended the meeting spoke out against the fee increase, which will raise yearly fees by $306 for undergraduate students, $354 for teaching credential students and $378 for graduate students.
Danny Santana, a sophomore at Cal State Northridge, said he is considering leaving CSUN to attend a community college next semester as a result of rising fees.
“You’re asking us to pay more but at the same time saying we’ll be getting less,” Santana said. “I don’t have the solution … but putting the burden on students is not the answer.”
Santana also asked the board to consider the effects on students who do not receive financial aid.
Kayla Mason, who is graduating from Cal State Dominguez Hills, told the board that she was disheartened by a trend of CSU fee increases.
“It is to you a simple solution,” Mason said. “It is to me a traditional solution.”
Jeffrey Bleich, who is the chair of the board, said, “We don’t see it as a simple solution, we see it as a bad solution.”
He added that increases would be necessary “until California changes its priorities.”
Trustees and members of the public implored the board to look for new streams of revenue for higher education funding.
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi proposed that the board consider supporting Assembly Bill 626. The bill would create a tax for extracting oil in California, with the revenue from that tax going strictly to help fund higher education. The trustees voted to consider supporting that legislation at later meetings.
CSULB students said that, although they will pay extra fees to get the classes they need, they hope the board will come up with a better solution soon.
Nam Nguyen, a third year biology major, said that the CSU budget situation is “lose-lose.”
“It sucks. I don’t have money; you don’t have money,” Nguyen said. “I understand why we pay it but … it’ll never be a good thing, it’s the same as taxes.”
Nguyen said he understands the need to pay more because, as a biology student, he has seen the amount of classes and labs get cut. He said his professors have attributed these cuts to budget shortfalls. He also said they have cut biology labs in summer school.
“Let’s hope we get a better governor,” Nguyen said.
Tom Reed, a master’s student in computer science engineering, said he has “been going through the College of Engineering for a long time now and they’ve been cutting classes.”
Reed said more budget cuts will delay students from finishing their degrees.
Other students, such as Genevieve Barroga, a junior pre-nursing major, feel the fees are necessary.
“I think I would rather pay more so I could probably get the classes that I want,” Barroga said.
Kristina Toledo, also a junior pre-nursing major, said she would pay the extra dollars to get the classes she needs to graduate.
“Obviously, paying more is not fun at all, but I feel like I don’t have a say in that,” Toledo said.
Reed, who also received his undergraduate degree at CSULB, was indifferent about the increase since he has been through previous fee increases during his time at CSULB.
“It sucks, but I don’t see what else they can do,” Reed said.
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