(FOX40.COM) — Cal State University students took aim at a new tuition hike set for a vote on Wednesday.
San Diego State University student Colin Culver said, “It is physically not possible to make enough money to live on campus while you’re working on campus and I think that’s just completely wrong.”
The proposed tuition increases include an annual 6% bump through the 2028-29 academic year, bringing tuition for that year to about $7,700, compared to roughly $5,750 that students are currently paying.
Sacramento State student Utkarsh Metha said, “Raising tuition does not just happen in a vacuum. There are social, economic, political, cultural considerations at play.”
He continued, “And having to ask our families for more money just because. The CSU did not foresee their costs, it’s bad planning on their end, and that is what needs to be brought up.”
CSU officials said that the tuition increases are necessary to cover a $1.5 billion budget shortfall in unfunded operational costs.
Officials add that the five-year increase proposed is expected to generate about $860 million, while the CSU’s largest revenue source, the state general fund, will generate the rest.
Some students said it feels like they’re being left to pick up the tab.
“CSU has drifted far away from their mission of providing opportunities and they’re moving more towards behaving like a corporation underplaying and exploiting workers,” said Danielle Lee, a student at California State University in Northridge.
The proposed tuition increase would be the first of its kind since the 2011-12 academic year. And CSU officials say roughly $280 million would go toward financial aid for students with the most need.
However, students say the university system, which claims to pride itself on equitable excellence and access, should be relying less on the students’ money.
“Every time I hear a member of CSU leadership talk about ‘why to choose CSU,’ they use that phrase ‘economic and social mobility’ all the time,’” Culver said.
“And yet every single decision that comes out of the Chancellor’s Office has the opposite effect.”
