Calif. university system OKs 20 percent fee hike

LONG BEACH, Calif. — The California State University system raised student fees Tuesday by 20 percent as part of a budget plan that would also shrink enrollment and furlough nearly all employees for two days a month.

The Board of Trustees voted 17-1 to raise undergraduate fees by $672 a year to $4,827 in the nation’s largest four-year university system, which has about 450,000 students.

The fee increase, which follows a 10 percent hike approved in May, is part of the university’s plan to close a $584 million budget shortfall caused by an unprecedented drop in state funding to the 23-campus system.

“We face a huge economic tsunami,” board Chairman Jeffrey Bleich said. “What we’re doing today doesn’t give anyone pleasure.”

The board voted for the hike despite protests from students who marched, chanted and banged drums outside the meeting hall in Long Beach.

Even with the increases, which begin this fall, undergraduate fees at CSU remain less than those at most comparable universities but more than twice the amount students paid seven years ago.

Fees also were raised $780 a year for teacher credential students, $828 a year for graduate students and $990 for nonresident undergraduates.

The increase is expected to generate $236 million, a third of which will be set aside for financial aid.

For many students, the increased fees will be offset by expanded financial aid and federal tax credits included in the $787 billion economic stimulus package, CSU officials said.

The state is expected to reduce funding for its two public university systems — CSU and the University of California — by 20 percent under a tentative budget deal reached Monday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders to close a $26 billion deficit.

Last week, the UC Board of Regents approved a budget plan that would lead to deep funding cuts at its 10 campuses and force most employees to take furloughs and pay cuts ranging from 4 percent to 10 percent.

CSU, sometimes called the “People’s University,” has been one of the country’s most affordable universities and has large numbers of low-income, minority students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Student protesters, who traveled to Long Beach from across California, said the fee hikes, enrollment reductions and program cuts would reduce access to the university.

“You’re going to see the gentrification of the CSU and the door close to higher education for working-class people,” said Aaron Buchbinder, 26, a graduate student in social work at San Francisco State University. “I’m going to pile up more debt, and it’s going to take me longer to pay off.”

Vanessa Rojas, a senior English major at CSU Bakersfield, said the budget cuts would lead to fewer course offerings, larger class sizes and longer graduation times.

“Fees are increasing, but the quality of education is going down,” Rojas said.

Chancellor Charles B. Reed said the university has no attractive options for addressing its budget shortfall.

“All of our choices go from bad to worse,” he said. “I want us to maintain quality and serve as many students as we can.”

Under Reed’s plan, all CSU employees except public safety officers would take unpaid leave two days a month and see their pay cut by about 10 percent. If all groups participate, the furloughs would begin Aug. 1 and save $275 million . Reed set a July 28 deadline for employee unions to decide whether to take furloughs, which are intended to reduce layoffs and preserve health care and pension benefits.

The California State University Employees Union, which represents about 16,000 nonacademic workers, said its members have approved a furlough agreement.

The California Faculty Association, the largest union with 23,000 members, is expected to have results of its furlough vote Wednesday.

“You’ve got faculty out there who are struggling to live on the salaries they have right now,” said Cecil Canton, a criminal justice professor at the Sacramento campus who joined the student demonstration Tuesday. “A 10 percent pay cut is going to make it more difficult.”

Under Reed’s budget plan, student enrollment would be reduced by 40,000 during the next two years. Earlier this month, the university closed admissions for the winter and spring 2010 terms.

In addition, the university system would need to cut a total of $183 million from individual campus budgets, which is expected to lead to staff layoffs, fewer course offerings and cuts to academic programs and student services.

“This is fundamentally changing the university,” said Lillian Taiz, a history professor at CSU Los Angeles who heads the faculty union. “We’re downsizing this university and really restricting opportunity for a whole generation of California students.”