CALIFORNIA

Cal State, UC Back Steep Hikes in Fees

Increases of 30% and 25% are biggest since the early 1990s and would affect 600,000 public university students in California.

By Peter Y. Hong and Rebecca Trounson
Times Staff Writers

July 17, 2003

Faced with deep cuts in state funding, the California State University trustees approved a 30% fee increase for its students on Wednesday, while a key committee of the University of California Regents backed a boost of at least 25%.

All told, the fee increases will affect about 600,000 public university students in the state, marking a sharp incursion of the state's budget crisis into the ranks of the middle class.

Both the Cal State trustees and UC regents said that for low-income students, the higher fees will be offset at least in part by increased financial aid.

Although relatively few students turned out at either board meeting — most are out of school for the summer — those who did were vocal in their opposition. They complained that the extra cost would be a great burden to those who struggle to pay for schooling but earn too much to be eligible for financial aid. It also would increase pressure on students who already borrow large sums to attend school, they said.

Humboldt State University student Caitlin Gill traveled to the Cal State trustees meeting in Long Beach, where she told the board the hike in fees would force students "deeper into debt or out of the CSU system entirely."

At the UC Regents meeting in San Francisco, UC Berkeley law student Mo Kashmiri voiced a similar sentiment. "Now, at the end of my second year, I've got $80,000 worth of debt. By the time I graduate, I'll have $100,000, without the new fees. I don't know if I can do it."

The UC increase was approved by the regents' finance committee; the full board is expected to ratify the vote today. In addition to raising fees, the committee authorized the UC president to boost the fees an additional 5% depending on the outcome of state budget fight in Sacramento.

Either way, the increases amount to the biggest boost in fees for UC and Cal State students since the early 1990s, and UC officials warned of the possibility of more hikes — beyond the maximum of 30% authorized — in the months ahead.

"We're in an extremely difficult situation," said Larry Hershman, UC's vice president for budget, told the regents. "We may need to come back to you with even higher requests."

Along with the budget cuts and fee increases, the university is considering other steps, including borrowing up to $50 million through one-time debt financing and curtailing enrollment growth for the 2004-05 school year.

Hershman also told the regents Wednesday of other grim possibilities for raising revenue, from adopting a tiered fee system, in which students from wealthier families would pay more, to charging higher fees to students who remain enrolled after accumulating the required 180 units to graduate.

"None of this is easy," he said. "But we're facing very difficult times."

The 5-4 committee vote was unexpectedly close. A few regents strongly objected, saying the university should search for other ways to close the budget gap.

"It's unacceptable that the state and the UC would balance its budget on the backs of students," said Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is a regent by virtue of his state office. "Middle-class and working families are going to bear the burden."

If the full 30% increase is imposed on UC undergraduates, systemwide resident fees will climb $1,150 per year, to $4,984. With additional individual campus fees, undergraduates who are California residents on average would pay about $5,400 annually, excluding room, board and mandatory health insurance. A 25% increase would mean a $960 annual boost.

The committee also approved a 25% fee increase for graduate and professional school students, with an extra 5% also possible later.

In addition, the committee endorsed a 10% fee boost for nonresident undergraduates and graduate students, who already pay significantly higher costs than state residents.

Cal State system fees, currently $1,572 a year for undergraduates, will rise by $474, to $2,046. Combined with individual campus fees, an average year's fees for a Cal State undergraduate would reach $2,544.

University officials from both systems pointed out that, even with the increases, California's fees are much lower than those of comparable universities in other states. Testifying in favor of the fee increase, Sonoma State University President Ruben Arminana said the annual amount would be equivalent to "a Coke or Pepsi a day, or a cup of coffee — and not at a fancy place."

Arminana's quip prompted a retort from student trustee M. Alex Lopez, a Cal State Fullerton undergraduate. "For a student who works part-time that's a month's pay," he said.

Lopez was one of two trustees to oppose the fee increase, which passed by a vote of 11-2.

Trustee Ricardo F. Icaza, who also opposed the increase, said, "Too little has been done to balance the budget in other ways I'm not convinced [the fee hikes] are our best or only solutions."

Icaza, chief executive of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770, questioned systemwide spending practices such as a computer management software system. The system was the subject of a critical report from the state auditor this year, which projected its cost at $662 million — $200 million over Cal State's initial estimate.

Cal State Chancellor Charles Reed said the fee increases are necessary to deal with at least $330.2 million in state budget cuts to the 400,000-student system. To illustrate the magnitude of the state cuts, Reed told trustees, "If you combine the budgets of San Diego State and Cal Poly Pomona that's what they're taking out of our system."

Similarly, UC President Richard Atkinson and other UC officials said the size of the budget gap and the continuing fight over how to resolve it in Sacramento left them no choice. UC officials say Gov. Gray Davis' most recent budget proposal would cut $360 million from the university's annual state funding of $3 billion. Already, that is translating into cuts and layoffs in such areas as administration, student services, libraries, outreach and research.

UC officials said the higher fees, if approved, would help preserve academic programs at the 190,000-student system. Those programs are threatened by legislative proposals calling for additional reductions in the range of $80.5 million to $400 million this fiscal year.

A 25% fee increase would raise $146 million annually, while a 30% increase would raise $173 million, UC officials said.

"The state's budget cuts to the university have continued to deepen, and next year may be even worse than this year," Atkinson told the regents. "We now are on the verge of doing great harm to the academic quality of the University of California unless we take action."