Cal State considering 3 fee hikes to push graduation

California State University is considering three new fee hikes designed to push students to earn their degrees faster and open up more classroom seats and enrollment slots for new and existing students.

Ephraim Smith, Cal State’s executive vice chancellor, told reporters Thursday that the 23-campus system is looking at levying fee increases on seniors who have earned enough units to graduate but remain in school, students who repeat courses, and students who take more than a fulltime load of courses.

The measures, if approved by the board of trustees at its meeting next week, would affect about 71,000 students in the 425,000-student system.

The fees would generate an estimated $30 million a year, but Smith says the goal is really to free up course space for students who need it.