The California State University system will receive a total of $2.7 billion from the state for the upcoming fall quarter, facilitated in part by voter approval of Proposition 30 in November 2012.

The state put forth a $142 million increase in funding for the 23-campus university system and the University of California. The California State Senate and Assembly advocated for a funding increase of about $237 million for California State University campuses, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The California State University system will have to allocate the final budget to maintain current services. The climbing number of qualified CSU applicants could mean that the CSU system will require additional funds to expand enrollment and faculty growth, in addition to providing other necessities such as building repairs.

California State University, East Bay Chief Financial Officer Brad Wells states that CSUEB will not have to adjust enrollment growth for the fall term because the Admission Committee’s planning cycle is about nine months earlier than the state funding process.

“The Admission Committee makes decisions much earlier than the budget is passed,” Wells said. “For fall, first-time freshmen are going to amount to about 1,500 students which is what it was last year. Foreign student applicants have also been pretty steady at about 1,000. We’ve seen an increase in transfer student applications.”

Due to insufficient state funding, CSUEB saw a lower number of state-funded courses during its 2014 summer session. Instead, the campus offered a number of courses via self-support, which rely directly on student fees.

“We made this change, in anticipation of another budget much lower than we requested,” Wells said. “The demand for higher education in California currently outstrips the funding provided. More money would allow us to provide education to more students. That is still true and will be true until the state funds public education at the level that it needs.”

CSU public affair assistant, Elizabeth Chapin, sees the funding boost offered by the state as a positive gesture that will benefit the CSU system.

“There are many benefits to the final budget that we were offered,” Chapin said. “Part of that $142 million is going to go to enrolling about 9,900 more students. The CSU Board’s original request would have funded a lot more but they had to reaffirm their priorities with funding. With this new budget, the campuses are going to be hiring more faculty and staff, which will ultimately benefit students. They’re also going to be developing programs on campus that improve student success.”

CSUEB librarian, Aline Soules wonders about the effects of state funding every school term. She notes that the CSUEB library receives between 15,000 and 20,000 new books per month on the campus’ current budget.

“I’m concerned about state funding every year. Every year is up for grabs. It’s unpredictable,” Soules said. “There’s a very boom-and-bust mentality here. The shifts in the budget can be quite extreme. I’m not used to the idea that one doesn’t have a budget at the beginning of one’s budget year.”