CSU Tuition Increases 12 Percent

Students of the California State University system will see a significant cost hike next semester.

The CSU board of trustees approved a 12 percent tuition increase  Tuesday, as a result of a reduction of state funding to the CSU system, according to a university press release.

The CSU is expected to receive $650 million less, for a total of $2.1 billion in state funds.

The 12 percent increase comes after the trustees approved a 10 percent — or $222 — per semester tuition increase for fall in November.

This means that tuition will be increased $294 per semester for full-time undergraduate students, $588 more for the year. This brings the annual tuition fee for undergraduate students to $5,472, not including campus-based fees.

In addition, tuition for credential programs will increase by $339 each semester and by $360 more for graduate students.

For students like Tri-City resident Amy Reyes, the additional $588 likely will make an impact.

“Without the increases, I was still struggling, having to add my own money for books and tuitions that wasn’t covered,” said Reyes, who has been attending CSU, East Bay, for one year.

CSU officials said in a press release issued Tuesday that the reduction in state funding has left the CSU with “no other choice if we are to maintain quality and access to the CSU," said Chancellor Charles B. Reed. 

"The magnitude of this cut, compounded with the uncertainty of the final amount of the reduction, will have negative impacts on the CSU long after this upcoming fiscal year has come and gone,” he said.

Still, the CSU will continue to offer as many classes as possible and keep its open enrollment for spring 2012, which is important for community college transfer students, Reed said.

About one-third of the revenue that will come from the tuition increases will go toward financial aid, covering tuition for about 170,000 students, according to the press release.

The 2011-12 budget that allocates $2.1 billion in state funding to the CSU will be “the lowest level of state support the system has received since the 1998-99 fiscal year,” according to the press release.

CSU serves about 412,000 students on 23 campuses.