The Cal State University is not ruling out another fall tuition increase if state support continues to decline, CSU officials told student media in a teleconference meeting Tuesday.
The CSU Board of Trustees raised annual undergraduate tuition by 9 percent or $498 last November, but Liz Chapin, a CSU spokeswoman, said another tuition increase “could be a likely option” if the 23-campus system faces additional cuts to state funding.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2012-13 budgetcalls for $200 million in additional cuts to the CSU, if voters don’t approve two tax increases this November.
Brown has asked voters to approve an increase in sales tax and higher taxes on Californians earning more than $250,000.
But CSU officials also said they could not rule out a tuition increase even if these tax increases are approved.
“Until we’re dealing with a finalized budget, we do not know what our budget will be,” said Erik Fallis, a CSU spokesman.
The governor is set to release a revised budget in May and the California Legislature will vote on that budget in June.
In the mean time, the CSU and California State Student Association will be engaging in a unified lobbying effort.
The two organizations will be lobbying at the federal and state levels for increased funding to higher education and protection of Cal Grants and Pell Grants.
The CSSA has recently released a resolution opposing proposed changes that would limit student eligibility to Cal Grants.
CSU officials also fear that continued cuts to state and federal grants would put a strain on state university grants.
CSSA Executive Director Miles Nevin, who also participated in the CSU teleconference, said that, although the CSSA lobbied independently last year, this will not be the first time the two organizations work together.
The CSSA and the CSU lobbied together in 2010, according to Nevin.
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