By Bria Overs
Managing Editor
Timothy White, California State University Chancellor, announced on April 20 that the CSU would not be raising tuition for the 2018-2019 academic school year.
The CSU Board of Trustees met in late January to discuss the potential increase, this coming after the current increase which took effect in the current 2017-2018 academic school year. However, at the time, the board did not come to a decision.
In his letter to the CSUs, Chancellor White wrote, “… our state’s economy is strong and many lawmakers support the CSU. Thus, I have decided that it is in the best interest of California that tuition levels should remain unchanged for the 2018-2019 academic year.
This decision is not made lightly. There will be serious adverse consequences if state funding falls short of meeting our university needs.”
Deciding to not raise the costs is highly dependent on the state of California giving the CSU the money that it has requested, which is $263 million, according to statements from a previous board meeting.
In that same meeting, the board was informed that based on California Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget for the 2018-2019 year, the CSU is expected to receive $92.1 million.
If the CSU does not receive adequate funding, the consequences could be reducing staff numbers, and reevaluating certain programs and services, according to Chancellor White’s letter.
To combat the state’s decision to not give the CSU the funding requested, organizations such as the California Faculty Association, which represents 28,000 faculty and staff members at the 28 CSU campuses, have rallied in Sacramento.
In a conference call back in March, Jennifer Eagan, CFA president and CSU East Bay professor said, “[The] CFA has been saying for a long time that the state has not been investing enough money in the CSU and they are actually disinvesting in public higher education when they should be investing more.”
Chancellor White’s final request from his letter is to the state. He asks that the state of California “#ChooseCSU and fund our shared priorities.”
