Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 2/16/05 Section: Campus News

Since 2002, California State University student fees have increased 76 percent for undergraduates and 106 percent for graduate students, according to a report by the California Faculty Association.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed met with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2004 to construct a "Compact on Higher Education."

At the meeting, a nonbinding agreement was made where the chancellor accepted deep cuts in the 2004-05 budget with the promise that the funds would be gradually restored in the future, according to the CFA report.

"In this year's budget proposal, there is to be an 8-percent increase in student fees," said John Travis, CFA president. "We have anticipated this because it reflected what was discussed at the compact meeting."

If the budget is passed by California Congress in June, student fees for undergraduates will have increased 91 percent since 2002, according to Stand Up, a coalition of students advocating for new direction in university policy.

"The fees will continue to increase until the portion the students pay covers a third of the school's total cost," said Shawn Bibb, interim associate vice president of administrative systems and finance at San Jose State University. Bibb said this was agreed in the compact agreement between the government and the CSU system.

The CFA's research shows that enrollment in the CSU system has dropped since 2002-03 and since that time, state support to the CSU general fund budget has decreased by $511 million.

"This year, more than 15,000 eligible candidates of the CSU system did not come," Travis said. "We are asking legislature to raise the budget 1.5 percent for enrollment growth."

Travis said last year the CFA was successful in convincing the legislature that the CSU system is an important resource in California.

Travis said enrollment at CSU has been dropping because of student fee increases. Students have been facing difficulty in juggling school and work.

"I work two jobs," said Huy Tran of Stand Up at SJSU. "I pay for school and I am trying to save money."

Tran said he has noticed the tuition increases have brought overcrowded classrooms, difficulty in obtaining add codes, and declining class availability.

"They are making students pay more and get less back," Tran said.

"I have friends who aren't coming to school this year because they have to work," said Norma Gutierrez, a senior majoring in political science at Cal State East Bay. She said that at her university, class sizes have grown and some classes are only offered once a year or every other year, making it difficult to graduate in four years.

"There are some classes that have been full for three years," said Jesse Cerda, a liberal studies major at Cal Poly Pomona. He said that even though he has senior standing, he is not guaranteed access to classes he needs to graduate.

Political science professor Larry Gerston said that because of the situation California is in, the state can either make draconian cuts or it can raise taxes.

"Just a 1-percent increase in state taxes will raise 2.5 billion dollars," Gerston said.

Currently the CFA is lobbying with legislature to "buy back" the new fee increases and to give 1.5 percent increase in enrollment growth funding.

Stand Up is working on the SJSU campus to help educate students about what is happening to them, Tran said. The organization is working on getting students involved and to see how they have been affected. Tran said Stand Up is planning to compile student stories so the coalition may present them to local and state legislators.

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