California State University Committee Approves 9 Percent Tuition Incease

By Bay City News Service

California State University trustees are meeting today in Long Beach to weigh a 9 percent tuition hike that would take effect next year if the state fails to provide support for the CSU system.

This morning, the committee on finance approved the hike in a 4-3 vote. The full board will take up the issue this afternoon.

According to CSU officials, the tuition increase -- or an equivalent amount of funding from the state -- is needed to restore access, course sections and student services.

The board plans to ask the Legislature in January for $138 million in funding, which, if approved, would negate the need for the tuition hike for the 23-campus system.

The increase would amount to $498 per year for undergraduates, $582 for credential program participants and $618 for graduate students. Annual tuition is currently $5,472.

In July, the trustees approved a 12 percent hike that went into effect this fall and was expected to generate $150 million for the CSU system annually. An additional 10 percent tuition increase was approved last November.

Together with cutbacks, the tuition hikes were expected to bridge the budget gap created by $650 million in state funding cuts. If the increase moves forward, it would be the sixth consecutive year that the CSU system has seen a jump in tuition.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, who serves on the CSU board of trustees, said he is against the proposed tuition hike.

"Fee increases should be our very last resort, not our first option. And yet for the last decade, fees have marched steadily upward, shifting the Legislature's failure to support our state universities onto the backs of our students and their families," Torlakson said. "It's time to recognize that our students and our state are in crisis, and we need talented college graduates to bring California's economy back. This proposal takes us in the wrong direction at the worst possible time."