The ninth tuition increase in nine years Wednesday by the California State University Board of Trustees was met with protest, destruction of property and arrests at a meeting Wednesday afternoon in Long Beach.
In a 9-6 vote, the CSU board voted to raise tuition by $498 per student, changing the tuition for full-time CSU students from $5,472 in the 2011-2012 school year to $5,970 for 2012-2013 before campus-specific fees, according to a press release from the CSU chancellor’s office.
With campus-specific fees included, the total cost for undergraduate students would average $7,017 per student annually.
This new tuition increase is on top of a 12 percent tuition hike which has already taken effect this school year and a 9 percent increase in 2010.
Approximately 45 percent of CSU undergraduates would not pay the tuition fee increase due to grants or aid, according to the release.
Regardless, protesters attended the CSU board meeting Wednesday and scuffles ensued, causing “both personal injury to three California State University police officers, and the arrest of four individuals … also damage to the building when the glass entrance doors to the chancellor’s office were shattered,” according to the release.
Three officers and four protesters were injured, including the person who broke the door in an attempt to get back into the building, according to NBC San Diego.
“The additional revenue requested in this budget is critical to addressing the deep and painful cuts the CSU has had to absorb, and to ensure that students have access to needed courses and support services,” CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said in the release.
“While there is still so much uncertainty in the state’s fiscal condition, we wanted to provide students and parents with as much notice as possible that tuition will go up in the fall,” he said.
Yet advanced notice didn’t seem to comfort local students already in the CSU system and a few CSU hopefuls in community college who were interviewed just a few hours prior to the board’s decision.
“It’s outrageous knowing that they want to raise the prices,” San Diego State University-Imperial Valley campus senior Laura Villa said.
Villa, an El Centro resident and work study student, said a lot of her fellow students do not qualify for financial aid and work multiple jobs and/or are taking on student loans, in order to pay for their classes.
“They find themselves stressing over classes and work so it makes it harder; sometimes that reflects in their grades,” Villa said. “Sometimes they even have to retake classes.”
Under CSU’s financial aid, students from households making $70,000 or less on average pay no tuition, according to the CSU release.
Even so, Villa and other students said it’s a sad cycle. Student tuition is increased, students work more often or take on loans, which leads to taking longer to finish school and compiling more student debt, all with ongoing tuition increases.
“I think it’s not fair because some students are barely getting started and now the prices are going up,” said Gustavo Alejos, a Calexico resident and Imperial Valley College student.
“We’re the future of the country and it would be better to have an easier path through university,” Alejos said, as a student planning to transfer to SDSU-IV in the near future.
“(Students are feeling) pressure. More pressure,” Villa said.
Staff Writer Roman Flores can be reached at 760-337-3439 or rflores@ivpressonline.com
In a 9-6 vote, the CSU board voted to raise tuition by $498 per student, changing the tuition for full-time CSU students from $5,472 in the 2011-2012 school year to $5,970 for 2012-2013 before campus-specific fees, according to a press release from the CSU chancellor’s office.
With campus-specific fees included, the total cost for undergraduate students would average $7,017 per student annually.
This new tuition increase is on top of a 12 percent tuition hike which has already taken effect this school year and a 9 percent increase in 2010.
Approximately 45 percent of CSU undergraduates would not pay the tuition fee increase due to grants or aid, according to the release.
Regardless, protesters attended the CSU board meeting Wednesday and scuffles ensued, causing “both personal injury to three California State University police officers, and the arrest of four individuals … also damage to the building when the glass entrance doors to the chancellor’s office were shattered,” according to the release.
Three officers and four protesters were injured, including the person who broke the door in an attempt to get back into the building, according to NBC San Diego.
“The additional revenue requested in this budget is critical to addressing the deep and painful cuts the CSU has had to absorb, and to ensure that students have access to needed courses and support services,” CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said in the release.
“While there is still so much uncertainty in the state’s fiscal condition, we wanted to provide students and parents with as much notice as possible that tuition will go up in the fall,” he said.
Yet advanced notice didn’t seem to comfort local students already in the CSU system and a few CSU hopefuls in community college who were interviewed just a few hours prior to the board’s decision.
“It’s outrageous knowing that they want to raise the prices,” San Diego State University-Imperial Valley campus senior Laura Villa said.
Villa, an El Centro resident and work study student, said a lot of her fellow students do not qualify for financial aid and work multiple jobs and/or are taking on student loans, in order to pay for their classes.
“They find themselves stressing over classes and work so it makes it harder; sometimes that reflects in their grades,” Villa said. “Sometimes they even have to retake classes.”
Under CSU’s financial aid, students from households making $70,000 or less on average pay no tuition, according to the CSU release.
Even so, Villa and other students said it’s a sad cycle. Student tuition is increased, students work more often or take on loans, which leads to taking longer to finish school and compiling more student debt, all with ongoing tuition increases.
“I think it’s not fair because some students are barely getting started and now the prices are going up,” said Gustavo Alejos, a Calexico resident and Imperial Valley College student.
“We’re the future of the country and it would be better to have an easier path through university,” Alejos said, as a student planning to transfer to SDSU-IV in the near future.
“(Students are feeling) pressure. More pressure,” Villa said.
Staff Writer Roman Flores can be reached at 760-337-3439 or rflores@ivpressonline.com
