California State School Becoming Less Affordable?

By Mitch Gross | July 27, 2009

Recently the California State University (CSU) board approved a 20% rate hike on July 21. Let’s not forget that there was a 10% hike in May! The CSU system consists of 23 schools, including Cal State Long Beach, San Jose State, San Diego State and other popular institutions within the state of California. Tuition is now close to $5,000/year for school and not much available for financial aid within these public schools.

The CSU system is grappling with a reduction in funding by 20% as a result of California’s budget crisis. Over $8b is being cut from education across the state to try and close the deficit. Education is taking the brunt of the cost cutting, representing the largest category being cut from government spending. For example, the Community colleges of California are facing their largest cut in history.

While an affordable education is becoming harder to obtain in the state of California, the state government allowed Cal Grants to survive. The grants provide financial aid ranging from $3,354 to $9,708 a year for low-income students. But, there’s still a large portion of the student population looking at a 30% rate hike this year if they’re planning to attend a CSU school.

I’ve written about this before, but these cuts are completely short sighted. The repercussion of such dramatic rate hikes for higher education can’t possibly be measured in the present. It’s getting to a point, where college bound students in the state of California, can easily find schools out of state that are more affordable and on par academically. Is the future generation going to plant their seeds elsewhere? It starts with education, then affordable housing and jobs. California is struggling on all fronts.