The recently passed state budget has slashed funding to public higher education.
The downward trend of support for public higher education began two decades ago and has put much of the burden on finding means of support on the CSU Board of Trustees approving new hikes in student fees.
On July 12, the CSU Board of Trustees voted to further increase student fees by 12 percent, bringing the grand total to a 22 percent increase in fees for Fall Quarter from the year before.
This was directly in response to the major cut of $650 million to the CSU system alone in Brown’s budget.
The California State Legislature proposed Senate Bill 79 which would create a fund composed of money from the state education systems, $1 billion from the UC system and $700 million from the CSU system, in order to have some “borrowable resources” to draw upon if needed.
According to The Sacramento Bee, the State Assembly has already passed the bill and it is expected to go to the State Senate on July 14.
Along with increases in Administration salaries, like the $100,000 increase in pay to San Diego State University Chancellor Elliot Hirshman, which Governor Brown disapproved of, the initiatives seem to only add to the poor financial situation of the California higher education system.
CSU East Bay ASI Legislative Affairs Director, Frank Quintana, stated that these initiatives show that not only do California lawmakers show bad character in making these decisions but also that lawmakers are disconnected from the wants and needs of California students.
CSUEB’s ASI believes that the fee increases and Senate Bill 79 will both have a negative effect on the school and the students by creating negative sentiment throughout the student body by fee increases as well as course reduction and the decreased quality of the courses available.
“Essentially, students will pay more and get less as time goes by,” said Quintana, “and to make matters worse, with increased student fees, students will have to work more at their jobs to get money for tuition, which would leave less time for their education.”
“With these initiatives, we could possibly be seeing the beginning of the end of public education in California,” CSUEB ASI President, Christopher Prado, stated. “The fee increases could lead to more of a privatization of public education which would violate the mission of the CSU system.”
Prado cited violations of the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960 and Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, which both set forth rules for the CSU systems.
Prado did say however that ASI is not only going to fight for better education but also partner with students to help combat and speak out against these state initiatives that hurt education.
The student president also said that ASI is taking active steps to help by lobbying for bills that help higher education, empowering student voice in the State Capitol, and fighting for students in the monthly CSSA meetings.
“I believe that regardless of economic standing,” said Prado, “students should stand together and realize that these measures affect everyone involved and that by working together and getting involved, we can fight for better education and make our voices be heard.”
