Tuition price is rising six percent in the 2024-25 school year and students want to know the benefits of raising tuition. Recently the staff of Sonoma State has gone on strike to get a pay increase, among other demands, for the professors and staff of the university. The strike caused some to question the financial status of the CSU system and whether they could afford to increase wages and carry out the demands of the CFA. Annual tuition will rise $342 starting at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year and tuition will cost $7,682 by the beginning of the 2028 academic school year. 

Tuition spikes are nothing new on college campuses, however, not knowing what you will be getting in return is a bit of a problem. For most students, the only change on campus that is noticeable are the solar panels that continue to be put up around campus. Along with the lack of noticeable changes, the faculty of Sonoma State are also not on board with the tuition increase. 

“The faculty overall are very opposed to the upcoming tuition hike,” said Vice-Chair of the Academic Senate Emily Acosta Lewis. The CSU system should not be looking at the struggling students to fix their financial needs but instead looking at the state. “The fact of the matter is, enrollment at the CSUs is down and they need to figure out how to address the budget differentials. I would advocate for lobbying for more state funding as opposed to passing on those costs to the students,” Acosta Lewis continued.  

The school has not only burdened the students with a tuition increase but has made minimal efforts to inform us about what exactly it will do for our education. “ I do not think that the CSU system has done a good job informing students of the tuition raise. I haven’t heard anything about it from school officials. It seems as though they aren’t trying to be super upfront and honest about the sudden raise in tuition” said Kaila Vasconez, a fourth-year psychology major.  As a fourth-year student myself, I have paid more and more each year just to receive the same thing or less. For example, the restaurants that were open pre-pandemic have not reopened and some classes are still being offered online. 

Housing at Sonoma State also seems to be going downhill as the dorms are not well kept and maintenance around campus seems to be less of a priority. Outside the dorms specifically in Beaujolais Village, they are covered with spider webs and dirt. Along with this, only half of the washing and drying machines work at a time. With that being said my question remains, what are the students receiving in return for the tuition increase? “It would make sense to also incorporate things that benefit the students if we are the ones having to pay more,” said fourth- year business major Dominic Salerno.