On Tuesday, California State University leaders approved another tuition increase to cope with new cuts in state funding.
Students opposed the hike. According to the Contra Costa Times, recent increases in tuition will force students to pay roughly 26 percent more than they did last year, which has put college out of reach for many.
“We are truly disappointed in your actions to make CSU less affordable,” said Cal State Long Beach student Dalia Hernandez to trustees during their meeting on Tuesday. “Your solution does not allow us to seek a better future.”
Indeed, Shellsea Stoughton, a senior at California Maritime Academy, told the Times-Herald that she knows many people who can no longer afford to return to school.
“In these economic times, it’s too expensive to go to school,” Stoughton said.
According to the Los Angeles, the tuition increase came as the board also approved a $400,000 compensation package for the new San Diego State University President Elliot Hirshman, which further outraged students as well as Governor Jerry Brown. Hirshman’s pay is $100,000 more than his predecessor’s compensation.
“At a time when the state is closing its courts, laying off public school teachers and shutting down senior centers, it is not right to be raising the salaries of leaders who–of necessity–must demand sacrifice from everyone else,” wrote Brown in a letter to board chairman Herbert Carter.
“We’re looking at a president who runs a multimillion dollar organization,” said trustee Peter Mehas. “We cannot pay enough for quality leadership.”
Cal State L.A. graduate student Erik Dimitruk told the Los Angeles Times that the board does not seem to understand what students need.
“How are you paying someone $100,000 more a year and saying we have to raise tuition–it doesn’t make sense,” said Dimitruk. “I understand with the budget cuts that people have to tighten their belts, but everyone should have to do that.”
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