CSU Students Await Decisions On Tuition, New Chancellor As Trustees Meet

Published Jul 9, 2023 6:00 AM

Three students on a grassy field can be seen walking along a concrete walkway, behind the grassy field, there's a glass and concrete modern building lined with green bushes. On the glass windows there's a large white sign that reads in red letters: "Locker Student Union Est. 1992. 30 Years."

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As the California State University board of trustees meets this week, it holds the 23-school system’s reputation in its hands.

To begin with: The trustees will announce the new chancellor on Wednesday.

The previous chancellor, Joseph Castro, resigned after allegations that he mishandled a sexual assault investigation while in his previous post as president of Fresno State University.

The new chancellor will tackle a lot of pressing issues: CSU faces student enrollment drops, protests by faculty and staff who say the university has a recruitment and retention problem, and a recent report that found deficiencies in the university system’s sexual assault policies.

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Cal State trustees are expected to negotiate the new chancellor’s salary and benefits in closed session. Castro was paid a $625,000 yearly salary plus housing and car allowances while he was chancellor.

Tuition hike

The trustees will also be considering a tuition increase plan that would raise tuition by 6% for five years starting in fall 2024.

Watch the Board Meeting

The CSU Board of Trustees meets from July 9-12 in Long Beach. While there are multiple closed sessions (i.e. not public), you can watch the board meeting online. Here's the livestream and agenda.

Tuition would go up $342 the first year, generating $148 million in revenue; $49 million of that would be put into financial aid programs for low-income students. A report in May found a 15% gap between the funding CSU receives and what the system spends to educate students.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown greenlit funding increases for the state’s public universities as long as tuition wasn’t increased. Current Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office has not done the same. Newsom’s office said he’s monitoring the tuition hike. Here's more background on the university system's tuition woes.

The proposal offers alternatives to a tuition increase — various combinations of lobbying the state legislature for more money; cutting programs and services; and dipping into reserves.

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The plan will face pushback from students at this week’s meeting. In the last 15 years, CSU students have staged epic protests against double-digit tuition increases. Students weren’t able to stop the increases, but they raised awareness of the toll such hikes take on students, particularly those from working class families. Students for Quality Education, a group affiliated with CSU’s faculty union, says it’s opposed to the increases.

Cal State LA student Anita Rangel says the increase is more weight on already burdened student budgets.

“Raising tuition is just gonna further have people question whether they even want to attend college,” she said.