Students across the California State University system’s 23 campuses will likely have annual tuition increases beginning in the fall 2024 semester, pending approval from the Board of Trustees, a vote that’s set for Wednesday, Sept. 13.
The proposed tuition increases, which includes an annual 6% bump in the cost of education over the next five years, were originally approved by the board’s Committee on Finance in July — despite concerns from students and faculty alike that the additional costs would limit access to what has historically been the state’s most affordable higher education system.
CSU officials, though, say the tuition increases — the first since the 2011-12 academic year — are necessary to cover $1.5 billion in unfunded operational costs in the system’s budget.
The massive funding gap was first identified by a CSU workgroup report released in May, which found that the CSU only has enough money to pay for about 85% of the actual costs of education, institutional and academic support, and student services for its more than 460,000 students at all 23 campuses.
The CSU budget is primarily funded from two sources: California’s budget and tuition revenues. Neither of those, though, have kept up with the ever-increasing costs of operating the nation’s largest state university system, according to the May report. About 60% of the CSU’s operating budget is funded by the state; the remaining 40% comes from tuition revenue.
And though California Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to a funding compact with the CSU that will provide a 5% annual boost to its annual budget — amounting to a $227.3 million increase for this fiscal year — officials say it isn’t nearly enough to bridge the funding gap, especially because the state’s resources are dependent on numerous external factors.
State funding for the CSU’s operating budget, for example, has decreased from about 90% in the 1980s to about 60% now. Coupled with stagnant tuition rates,…
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