By John Hornberg
The Public Press
In an effort to close a $584 million budget shortfall for the coming year, the California State University’s board of trustees has approved a 20 percent fee increase for coming school year, its second such increase in the last three months, the Los Angeles Times has reported.
Along with that, the university system will require employees to take two furlough days each month, including each university’s president, which will cut pay by about 10 percent. It also plans to cut the number of students throughout the 23-campus system by 40,000, also approving a plan that would force out "super seniors," or students who have not graduated, but have enough units to do so, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
The 17-1 vote Tuesday by the board drew the immediate ire of students and other college administrators. The Times reported students, who have seen tuition almost quadrupled since 2000, protesting outside the auditorium at Cal State Long Beach where the board of trustees was meeting.
The lone vote against came from Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, who sits on the CSU board and the UC Board of Regents. He called the increase "a particularly stupid tax," the Daily Breeze of Torrance reported.
Administrators also expressed discontent with the decision.
"It’s devastating," said Mildred Garcia, president of Cal State Dominguez Hills to the Daily Breeze. She said her university stands to lose $20 million in funding for the coming year.
"At a time when we have reached enrollment targets for the first time since 2002 and decreased our deficit, the state went into a tsunami," she said.
Students will pay $2,013 in state tuition fees each semester next year, compared to $1,386 each semester last year.
The silver lining for some students comes in the form of Cal Grants and Pell Grants. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the grants will cover about 42 percent of the student population, or 187,000 students.
The CSU board of trustees’ actions follow the University of California system’s plans to furlough employees and raise tuition for the coming year.
Source:
The Daily Breeze – "Cal State students protest fee hikes, campus cuts"
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_12883041?source=rv
The Los Angeles Times – "Cal State approves 20% fee hike"
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-calstate-fees22-2009jul22,0,3037749.story
The San Francisco Chronicle – "Students protest as CSU raises fees by 20%"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/22/MN7018STJC.DTL&tsp=1
Public Press story on UC fee hikes (for ref at end)
http://www.public-press.org/content/2009/07/17/uc-regents-approve-furlough-plan-standoff-foreseen-with-unions
