Cal State University Regents Approve 15.5-Pecent Tution Hike
The California State University Board of Trustees today approved a 5 percent mid-year tuition increase and a 10 percent hike for the 2011-12 academic year.
The board’s Finance Committee approved the tuition hikes Tuesday during a meeting in Long Beach.
Under the increases, tuition will increase Jan. 1 by $105 per semester for undergraduate students, raising tuition from $2,115 to $2,220. For the 2011- 12 academic year, full-time tuition will jump by $444 per academic year for undergraduate students, increasing the annual tuition from $4,440 to $4,884.
The board approved the hikes despite vocal protests from students and other groups.
“They’ve been hiking rates as long as I’ve been going to school here, for the last two years. Seems like everytime we pay, it’s another increase,” said Natalie Sloan, a student at Cal-State San Bernardino’s satellite campus in Palm Desert.
CSU officials noted that about half of the university system’s undergraduates would not be affected by the increase because of financial aid, while thousands more could take advantage of federal tax credits to offset the increases.
“While we appreciate the funding that we did receive in this year’s budget, the reality is our state support is roughly the same as it was five years ago and we have 25,000 more students,” said Benjamin F. Quillian, CSU executive vice chancellor for business and finance. “In addition, part of the funding we received — $106 million — was one-time federal stimulus money that is being used at the state’s direction to admit 30,000 more students.
“These students will be on our campuses long after this one-time funding has been exhausted, and we have to ensure that we have the ongoing resources to support them.”
Students and teachers have blasted the proposed tuition hikes. According to a statement issued by the CSU faculty union, approving the latest increases will mean a 242 percent increase in tuition over eight years.
“Placing the cost squarely on the each individual family means that students must run up debt, which is good for the bottom line of banks that make loans but not so great for California that needs a strong middle class,” according to the faculty statement.
