By Bria Overs and Lauren Walker
Managing Editor and Staff Writer
With another tuition hike being considered, California State University faculty and staff are preparing for a rally in Sacramento.
The California Faculty Association, which represents 28,000 faculty and staff members throughout the 28 CSUs, will rally at the state capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to “#FreeTheCSU!” To help the CSU community get their voices heard, sign-ups are being held at almost every campus to offer buses and other travel accommodations for anyone interested in attending the event.
“I think the governor and the legislatures need to see the faces of this abstract university system that they’re choosing to disinvest in,” said Jennifer Eagan, CFA president and CSU East Bay professor. “They need to see our faces.”
The CSU Board of Trustees met on Jan. 31 to discuss a potential increase for the 2018-2019 academic year but did not reach a decision. According to the CFA website, the “trustees are considering another tuition increase of 4% for next year, on top of a 5% increase this year.”
Tuition for schools in the CSU system has increased by about 339 percent since 1992, with the most recent hike being for the current academic year. In total, the increase would be about 9 percent over a two-year period.
According to Eagan, after the 2008 recession, the state government has a $7 billion “rainy day” fund and she said the CFA would like to see some of that money used for helping CSU students. However, Governor Jerry Brown will not be in office next fiscal year, so it is up to advocates to relay the message, she said.
“We need to be visible and vocal because in a lot of ways we are communicating to our next governor, whoever that is and were telling that person how to treat the CSU,” Eagan said.
Requesting that the state government reinvests in the CSU is only one of the organization’s five demands. It is also advocating for the end of student fee hikes, faculty and student rights to academic freedom, protection of DACA and undocumented students, as well as putting an end to racism and discrimination.
In the 1960s, the California master plan made the promise to residents that every student that qualified would have a spot at a CSU. However, today, CSUs are turning away more than 30,000 students every year, Eagan said.
“[It’s] bad public policy because the state has committed that it needed a college-educated workforce and that the state needed it so much that it should be subsidized,” she said.
According to Eagan, if tuition was at the same pace with inflation, students would be paying less than $5,000 a year for tuition. It is currently $5,742. She believes that higher education is a public good and as the cost of it increases, the burden will fall on students and their families.
“We are going to do what it takes to get the funding CSU students really need,” Eagan said.
At least one CSUDH student agrees the need is urgent.
“I am a first-generation college student and had to take out loans just so I can get an education,” said Adrianna Gonzalez, 26, communications major. “I am not even a promised a job after I get my degree. It’s not fair and something has to be done.”
