By: Linsey Towles and Acsah Lemma
In an almost yearlong effort, the fight against the California State University (CSU) approved tuition increase shows no signs of stopping as students and allies continue to protest and confront CSU officials.
The Decision
The unpopular tuition increase stemmed from the CSU’s proposed 2024-2025 Operating Budget Plan. This plan is the CSU’s attempt to enhance student success by investing in staff and faculty, creating more modern, sustainable facilities and expanding access to education by increasing financial aid opportunities for students.
To achieve these goals, the CSU proposed a tuition increase that would raise its budget by 6.9%, increasing it from $8.1 billion to $8.657 billion, according to the proposal. In addition to a tuition increase, the CSU will also depend on a state general fund to finance its Operating Budget Plan.
Under the approved proposal, tuition would increase by 6% each fall semester for every CSU student. The increases would begin in the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year and finish at the end of the 2028-2029 academic year. When the tuition increase comes to an end, the tuition will not revert to its original amount from the 2023-2024 academic year.
In other words, in the 2024-2025 academic year, undergraduate students pursuing 6.1 units and more will have a $342 increase to their tuition. The next year’s tuition will increase to $366, with an increase the following year to $388, which will then increase to $410 the year after that. Finally, in the last year of the tuition increase, students will be paying $434 more in comparison to 2023-2024 tuition.
The document also outlines the CSU’s justification for increasing student tuition. According to the proposal, the CSU is “…one of the most important drivers of California’s economy, locally, regionally and across the state.”
The document says, however, that in the past two decades, state funds supporting public higher education have seen a decrease. While Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a 5% increase for the CSU’s state fund for the next five years, “more funding is still needed for the CSU to continue advancing its educational mission and to do so through the 21st century,” the document said.
According to the proposal, the tuition increase approval process began on May 25, 2023, with a written pitch to the California State Student Association. The proposal was then officially presented at the July 2023 Board of Trustees meeting and approved at the September meeting.
The Fight
Before the tuition increase was approved on Sept. 13, 2023, the possibility of the 6% raise prompted an outcry from campuses across the CSU.
This timeline chronicles the response from the Long Beach State campus.
At CSULB, the first act of protest began on Aug. 30 when protesters took to the Central Quad during Week of Welcome to mark the start of the new school year.
The next day, CSULB’s Associated Students, Inc. voted to finalize a resolution to oppose the tuition increase with a unanimous 17-0 vote. Long Beach State’s ASI joined in the united show of opposition to the tuition hike from all 23 CSU ASI organizations.
Students and the CSU Board of Trustees came to a head on Sept. 12, when several unions and organizations gathered at the CSU Chancellor’s Office where the Board of Trustees met.
In a four-day meeting, the Board of Trustees was scheduled to discuss and vote on the tuition increase, as well as hear from speakers. Many of the public speakers were students in opposition to the hike.
The public comments took over three hours. Other students remained in over three hours of public comment, while others remained outside armed with signs and bullhorns. Despite the massive show of protest, the board voted to approve the increase the next day.
On Feb. 28, a walkout was arranged at CSULB where students abandoned their classes and joined a protest at Brotman Hall.
The walkout was organized by Students Against Tuition Hikes, a coalition between La F.U.E.R.Z.A and Students for Quality Education.
The most recent display of protest was nearly a month after the walkout on March 28, where students confronted the CSU Board of Trustees for the second time in the fight against tuition hikes. Protesters spoke both in and outside of the downtown Long Beach meeting.
CSULB is not alone in its fight against tuition hikes, as other CSU campuses have joined in arms to protest against the increase. Other campuses who joined in shows of protest include:
- San Francisco State University
- California State Polytechnic University Pomona
- California State University Chico
- Humboldt State University
The Future
Students across the CSU campuses have stressed that one of the advantages of attending a CSU is a good education at a lower cost. As a result, a yearly increase in tuition is one more factor that students will have to consider upon pursuing an education.
While protests continue to take place, the tuition increase is to be implemented this upcoming fall semester.