I would like to welcome all of our students back to The Beach. I hope your summer experiences provided you with many expanded learning opportunities as well as some well-deserved time for relaxation. I also want to extend a warm welcome to our new incoming class of students who come to us from all over California, the nation and many international locations.
Due to the severity of recent state budget cuts, this incoming class is one of the smallest that we have enrolled in a number of years. However, this is also a very strong and academically talented group of students who will be great learners and leaders at The Beach.
The past summer months have proved to be a very difficult period for our campus community. Despite many unprecedented successes experienced by our campus, the governor and state Legislature handed our university the most severe single-year budget cut in its 60-year history. This has resulted in a mid-summer fee increase for all students, 24 campus state closure days with accompanying 10 percent salary reductions for virtually all California State University faculty and staff, hundreds of class reductions and further reductions in student services.
While California’s dysfunctional governance and fiscal planning have forced us to pursue such regressive directives, there is some good news that I would like to share with you regarding programs and additional assistance that are available to you. Prior to the inauguration of President Obama, the incoming administration began facing mounting pressure from the postsecondary education community to ensure that higher education would not be left out when final determinations were made about allocation of federal economic stimulus dollars.
To its credit, the new administration took these considerations to heart. When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law months later, higher education officials throughout the nation applauded its inclusion of higher education as an essential component of long-term economic sustainability.
This massive legislation positively impacted higher education in many different ways, including the amount of student aid available to students and families, additional science and research funding, construction funds for “shovel-ready” projects, and the creation of state stabilization funds developed to help offset anticipated deep cuts to all levels of public education. In fact, with the passage of ARRA, higher education witnessed the largest infusion of federal funding since the creation of the original “GI Bill” after World War II.
More specifically, more than $30 billion was added for college grants and tuition tax credits, which nearly doubled the federal commitments in these areas. Of these resources, $17 billion was added to not only substantially increase actual grant awards, but also to make sure that the grants would be available to more families with expanded income levels. Additionally, nearly $14 billion was generated to boost federal tuition tax credits from $1,000 and $1,500 to $2,500 for all families earning up to $180,000 annually. Do not let these awards or credits go unclaimed.
Other potential changes that all students and parents should be watching carefully include the student lending changes under current debate and the availability of very attractive, federally supported low-interest student loans, which will continue decreasing from 6.5 percent to 3.5 percent by 2012. Federally subsidized student loan interest rates have not been this low in nearly 30 years.
Furthermore, despite the governor’s attempt to eliminate the Cal Grant program this past year, California students receiving Cal Grant A or B funding will receive full funding that covers the summer fee increase adopted by the CSU board of trustees in July. For Cal State Long Beach students this means an increase in Cal Grant A and Cal Grant B awards. The increase boosts the maximum fee-paying award from $3,048 to $4,026 for Cal Grant awardees and will have a positive impact for nearly 4,000 CSULB students.
Finally, despite the severity of the national and statewide economic circumstances, we must all continue moving forward. As students, you need to take full advantage of the thousands of educational opportunities and dedicated faculty and staff throughout our campus community. These individuals have dedicated their professional lives to your academic and personal success.
I also want to strongly encourage you to maximize your educational experience by taking full advantage of the new federal assistance and student aid opportunities that rest at your fingertips. Our financial aid staff is here to help you qualify for the funding that you deserve, so please take advantage of their skills and talents.
We know that this bad economy will eventually pass and, if you take full advantage of this great university while you are here, then you will be perfectly positioned to play an important role in a new economy that will undoubtedly emerge. Stay focused on your graduation goals and have a productive and enjoyable year.
GO BEACH!
— CSULB President F. King Alexander