A swarm of California State University students, faculty, alumni and union workers rallied near Shoreline Drive Tuesday morning equipped with signs, sirens, drums, chants, sun hats and matching T-shirts to protest yet another proposed tuition increase.
On May 24, the CSU Board of Trustees received a report detailing its $1.5 billion funding gap. The proposed solution: a 6% tuition increase every year for the next five years.
Hundreds of members of the Cal State University Employees Union, California Faculty Association, Students For Quality Education and many others pleaded with the CSU Board of Trustees to strike down the tuition hikes and find its funding elsewhere.
The tuition hike would begin in fall 2024, raising the price for a full-time undergraduate student from $5,742 to $6084. By 2028, a full-time undergraduate student will be paying $7,682 in tuition.
This will be the first CSU tuition increase in nearly a decade. Though costs to run a state campus have increased with inflation, state funds have dwindled consistently since the Great Recession.
According to the California Budget and Policy Center, state funding per student is down by 18% at CSUs and by 34% at UCs since the 2005-06 school year. As a result, tuition and fees have increased by 74% for Cal State students and by 59% for UC students in the last two decades.
State funding for CSUs in 2022-23 is $8.3 billion, a little over half of its operating budget. The rest of the $12.4 billion budget comes from tuition, campus fees and bonds.
Although state funding is set to increase by 5% each year until the 2026-27 school year, the report states that the CSU system would continue to fall into further debt.
According to the Chancellor’s Office, 60% of students enrolled in CSUs would not be affected by the tuition increases since they will be covered by financial aid and other grants. With the other 40% of students paying at least part of the tuition, the plan predicts a $148 million revenue increase in the first year.
Students for Quality Education members hold signs while Angelmarie Taylor, a member from the CSU Channel Islands branch, speaks to the union members who gathered to protest and threaten a strike if proposed tuition increases are implemented at the California State University system on July 11, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Students for Quality Education member Angelmarie Taylor speaks to the union members who gathered to protest and threaten a strike if proposed tuition increases are implemented at the California State University system. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
A protestor livestreams a fellow Students for Quality Education member while they give public comment opposing a proposed tuition increase to the California State University Board of Trustees meeting on July 11, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
A Teamsters Union member carries the union flag to a protest at the CSU Chancellor’s office to protest proposed tuition increases at the California State University system on July 11, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Roger Maxim with the California State University Employee Union blows his whistle while the crowd of protesters chant and bang drums during a protest to proposed tuition increase across the California State University system on July 11, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Members of the Teamsters Union, California Faculty Association, and the California State University Employee Union stand on the lawn of the CSU Chancellor’s office and protest California State University’s proposed tuition increase on July 11, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
The CSU system is nearing its sister system, as the report states that the University of California schools are able to meet its costs mostly due to higher tuition and student fees. The average CSU student pays about $7,550 in student fees, while the average UC student pays about $11,000.
Larry Gonzalez, a student at Cal State University of Bakersfield spoke during public comment to the board about his experience working three jobs, being a full-time student and having children and said that a tuition increase would have “severe consequences” for families like his.
One-third of tuition-increase revenues from CSU students is already routed to financial aid, with more on the way.
Many faculty members took to the podium to talk about the lack of staffing, fair wages and the strenuous work environment professors and other faculty have to deal with.
“It’s a national embarrassment to the largest public university system in the country who refuses to pay its workforce fair compensation,” said Jessica Wesbay, vice president of representation for Cal State University Employees Union. “Stagnant wages are driving away quality, qualified employees and campuses are unable to fill the vacancies.”
CSU workers have been bargaining for higher wages for years, and may go on a strike soon if an agreement isn’t made this year.
In the past decade, CSU campuses have added student resources such as housing services, mental health resources, LGBTQ support centers, career path opportunities and more. Students and faculty at the board meeting insisted that the funding for these services are still not where it needs to be.
Students from Cal State Long Beach argued that their school has been in need of repairs such as air conditioning and improved mental health resources. Some students cited stories of rats in certain buildings.
“While I love my job and my colleagues, I have seen a decline in service and extraordinary staff turnover which affects the quality of service to students,” said Rebecca Aurajo, a worker at CSULB.
The board will decide in September if and how to increase tuition across its 23 campuses.
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