In recent years, both California State University and University of California campuses have faced the repercussions from major funding cuts by the state. However, the CSU Board of Trustees remained hopeful when they requested $216.6 million last November.
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed their request earlier this month, and instead proposed a budget of $119.5 million. Since the budget fell roughly $100 million short of what the Trustees were hoping, the 23 California State University campuses will only be allowed a 1 percent increase in enrollment as opposed to the 3 percent increase they would have had if their initial request was accepted.
Thousands of students will be denied acceptance. That also means fewer jobs will open up in order to accommodate an influx of additional students
“Well unfortunately, it’s exactly what we had anticipated,” said Anthony Gallino, president of Associated Students. “The governor’s proposal is to augment the CSU support budget by $119.5 million over the 2014/15 level, consistent with his multi-year funding plan,”
According to Gallino, the budget plan proposes a one-time funding of $25 million to address the CSUs most pressing issues, including maintenance and utility infrastructure needs.
One of the most pressing concerns for students is the possibility of tuition hikes in the near future. The California State University system prides itself on providing an affordable, outstanding education to all of its students. However, lack of funding has led to a lot of issues with regard to keeping student debt to a minimum and actually allowing students to graduate in four years.
“At this time, the CSU is not considering a tuition fee increase for this academic year, making it the fourth consecutive year that tuition has remained the same,” said Stephanie Thara, public affairs communications specialist at the Office of the the Board of Trustees and system administration will work through the legislative process to urge the Legislature to fully fund the Support Budget Request approved by the Board of Trustees at the November 2014 Board meeting.”
Worries about tuition increases for California State Universities may be put to rest for now, but there is still much to be done to support the system.
Despite funding for both the University of California and California State University campuses increasing, the amount allocated to them is still not enough to fulfill their needs. The University of California campuses may still face tuition hikes as they recently experienced a scare during the fall 2014 semester, to which students responded with outrage.
The California State University system is petitioning for additional funding from the state of California before the budget announced by Brown is finalized in June.
