Long Beach State ASI President Mitali Jain sat at the roundtable with Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis to express students’ concern for the possible 6% annual tuition increase.
“I hear students say all the time they don’t have $100 in their bank account,” Kounalakis said.
Since the CSU Chancellor’s Office presented the tuition increase, Lt. Gov. Kounalakis voiced her concerns for the students and families who already struggle with finances.
The tuition increase proposal raised concern among many students across the 23-campus CSU system, including the possibility of students not graduating.
From July 8 through July 9, CSSA hosted a meeting at the Chancellor’s Office in Long Beach for ASI government and CSSA leaders to discuss the needs of the students. All 23 campuses opposed the increase.
“Nearly 50,000 CSU students are homeless, and one in five struggle to eat. Raising tuition would disproportionately impact those already vulnerable,” CSSA President Dominic Quan Treseler voiced at the meeting. “The proposed tuition increase threatens to undermine this vision of the inclusive, thriving society California prides itself on being.”
In addition to the many other financial, emotional and personal struggles, international students fear the possibility of increased tuition could mean the end of their education at CSU. For CSULB, that has the potential of altering the lives of over 1,200 international students.
“I am a student who doesn’t receive any government funding whatsoever, so I am part of that 40% of students who would be impacted,” said CSULB ASI President, Mitali Jain. “If tuition fees go up, I won’t be able to afford CSU anymore.”
As Jain advocates for the students alongside Lt. Gov. Kounalakis, ASI is currently working on a senate resolution that opposes the increase.
“After the meeting, I feel like we have an ally, someone who understands our concerns. I feel very hopeful, she was very receptive to our experiences,” Jain said.
This article was edited on Aug. 22, 2023 for accuracy.