A San Francisco Superior Court ruled that the California State University system fee increases are “fair” to students.
The court voted 9-3 against the lawsuit that was originally filed by undergraduate students in 2009, according to the CSU Board of Trustees agenda. The students filed the lawsuit after the CSU increased undergraduate tuition in July by $672. This was two months after a $306 fee increase was adopted in, according to the CSU’s website.
“Today’s verdict affirms the California State University’s commitment to student success and the fiscal stability of the university for future generations of Californians,” Framroze Virjee, CSU executive vice chancellor and general counsel, said in a statement last week.
The original case, which opened in 2011, became a class-action lawsuit on behalf of about 175,000 students across the CSU system, according to a meeting agenda for the Committee of the Whole.
The CSU system filed with both the court of appeal and the California Supreme Court in 2012 to challenge the class certification decision, but both were denied, according to the agenda.
The part of the lawsuit that concerns the fee implemented for graduate students in the CSU system has yet to be determined.
The CSU overall acted responsibly with the fee increases in order to preserve its academic programs and minimize disruption to students, Virjee said.
“With the state’s reinvestment in the university, tuition fees have remained stable for the past four years,” Virjee said. “The CSU continues to offer one of the most affordable quality undergraduate degree programs in the nation.”