More than 460,000 students at the 23 California State University campuses could see annual tuition increases in coming years — for the first time in nearly a decade.
Officials from both systems hailed the funding compact, saying it would bring much-needed stability to their budgets and support long-term educational investments. “The absence of a tuition increase has also prevented the CSU from having sufficient resources to keep up with rising costs,” the report said. “Implementing the multi-year tuition proposal would provide the CSU with an additional $840 million in tuition revenue by 2028-2029.”
Without developing a stable budget with revenues that match the increased costs of operating 23 universities, the report said, the CSU would have to redirect funding to where it’s most needed — which could result in fewer course selections, less student services and a limited capacity for the system to invest in updated learning environments or give pay raises to its employees.
Cal State Fullerton officials agreed with CSU representatives, saying on Friday that 60% of its students with the greatest financial need will be supported with aid from various sources. A Cal State Dominguez Hills representative said much the same, noting that low-income students will have their aid amounts adjusted to cover the additional costs.
But for some students — those who don’t qualify for full tuition coverage, but aren’t in a position to pay for college out-of-pocket — the reality isn’t so simple. He pays around $2,300 per semester as a part-time student to balance a six-unit course load and a part-time job. He is also a recipient of a federal Pell grant — though that only covered about $1,900 of his fees last semester.
The CSU system, though, argues that the increased costs of tuition are unlikely to cause further student enrollment declines. Enrollment declines, the CSU says, have myriad reasons, including economic and emotional impacts from the coronavirus pandemic and the volatility of the economy generally. “Costs will always have an impact on enrollment, there’s no doubt about it — particularly for the kinds of students that CSU and community colleges serve,” Oakley said. “It may be the case that they need to raise tuition, but to argue that it wouldn’t impact students — I don’t see how anybody could say that with a straight face.”