Bright future in store for CSU fees

By Charles B Reed

Welcome to a new term at the California State University. I hope everyone had good holidays and that you are looking forward to your new classes. There have been significant developments on the state budget front, and I want to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on what we know about the CSU budget.

As Governor Schwarzene-gger’s proposal makes its way through legislative hearings, we will need all of your help communicating with legislators to make sure that adequate funding is available so that the CSU can continue to offer high-quality education to all of its 409,000 students.

The governor proposed cutting $240 million or 9 percent from the California State University system for the 2004-05 fiscal year. This will potentially limit student access by approximately 20,000 students if the cuts are implemented as proposed. This new cut, combined with the 2003-04 General Fund budget cut of $531 million, means that our budget has been cut in the past two years by $771 million or a 28.8 percent reduction in state support for students.

The proposed budget also recommends that 10 percent of incoming first-time freshmen attend a community college rather than a CSU campus and then transfer when they have all their required classes completed. This means that the CSU will have to turn away approximately 4,200 qualified students who would otherwise be able to attend our 23 universities.

This is very troublesome for the CSU and for the state. Fewer students admitted means that there will be fewer educated citizens entering the workforce. Over the next several months, we will be stressing to lawmakers and to the public the importance of investing in the CSU because of the critical role we play in the state’s economic health.

You probably have read or heard about the governor’s proposal to increase undergraduate fees by 10 percent, which would raise the State University Fee from $2,046 to $2,250 per year.

The governor’s proposal centers on creating a more stable fee policy for higher education. We have been advocating for a long time for a predictable and reasonable fee policy that is practical for students and their families.

I also am concerned about the budget’s impact on funding for programs including EOP and academic preparation. These have been very successful programs for students who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to attend a CSU campus. We will work very hard to ensure that these funds are not eliminated.

If you would like more information about the CSU’s 2004-05 budget, please visit our website at http://www.calstate.edu/BudgetCentral/index.shtml. The state budget crisis has created significant challenges for the CSU. We are focused on ensuring that our enrolled students get the courses they need to graduate. And, the CSU remains committed to its mission of providing a high-quality, accessible higher education for our students. To continue to do so, we need all 409,000 students and 44,000 faculty and staff to convey a simple fact: that the CSU is working for California. We need everyone to talk about what a CSU education means, and what would happen if quality, access and affordability disappear from the California State University. We cannot let that happen.

— Charles B. Reed is the Chancellor of the CSU System