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."