Student Fees in the California State University (CSU);
Mitigating Their Effects
AS-2594-03/FGA - March 6-7, 2003
RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of the California State University
(CSU) recognize the necessity for a short-term increase in student fees as a
last resort for protecting student access to higher education and slowing the
erosion of quality of California public higher education; and be it further
RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU oppose any fee increase that
does not meet the following conditions:
- Provide for sufficient financial aid to cover the additional need that
the fee will create among new and existing recipients. Until such time that
the needs of all of our non-traditional students can be met by Cal Grants and
other external financial aid programs, 1/3 of all revenues generated by fee
increases should be directed to internal CSU financial aid programs to
alleviate the increased financial need created by the fees.
- Provide for maintenance and expansion of programs designed to educate
current and potential students about the availability of financial aid and
the procedures for obtaining it. Such programs should be exempted from cuts
and treated as a necessary expense associated with the collection of
increased fees.
- Provide that any fee increases identified as necessary to the long-term
fiscal stability of the CSU, be implemented in a gradual, moderate, and
predictable manner.
- Provide that any future fee increases be the result of a meaningful
consultation process involving students, faculty and other members of the
university community and be based on a coherent and defensible policy.
RATIONALE: The sole purpose for which student fees of any kind are
warranted is to provide students with access to a high quality university
education; fees can be supportive or destructive of this end, depending upon
the way in which they are implemented. Fees that raise revenues for financial
aid can help preserve access by providing a pool of resources for students who
might otherwise be unable to afford college; fees that raise revenues for
instruction can help preserve quality by providing students with sufficient
curricula and support to make timely progress to a high quality degree. Fees
that do neither, but merely raise revenues to help the state close a general
budget deficit, are a regressive tax on those students who can still afford a
college education, and a barrier that could prevent the neediest students from
attending at all.
For many students, access is primarily an issue of affordability. It is
important, therefore, that any fee increases be accompanied by sufficient
student aid to maintain the affordability and access that has been the hallmark
of California higher education. The CSU has recently raised student fees by
15% for graduate students and 10% for undergraduates, and the Governor's budget
proposes an additional fee increase for AY 2003-04 of 25% for undergraduates
and 20% for graduates.
The Legislative Analyst's Office proposes that fees for undergraduates be
raised 15% but that the traditional requirement that 1/3 of all fees be set
aside for financial aid be lifted. The LAO cites the availability of Cal
Grants as a reason for why the 1/3 financial aid set aside is not required.
This reasoning is erroneous. A significant number of CSU students are not
from the traditional 18-24 age group and many have been out of high school for
more than one year, making them ineligible for most Cal Grants. The best, and
in many cases the only way to provide for their financial need, is through
internal State University Grants funded by the 1/3 of fee revenues that the
CSU traditionally sets aside for financial aid.
The CSU is experiencing a budget shortfall so severe that, whatever the fee
increases, severe cuts are expected. Those cuts should not fall upon those
specific programs and services that can help students cope with the fee
increases, or else student access to higher education will be even more
seriously imperiled.
APPROVED - March 6-7, 2003 |
