Now that our new governor has released his 2004-05 proposed budget, it is important to point out the impact it will have on higher education generally and specifically on the California State University.

The governor's budget proposal would cut $240 million, approximately 9 percent from the CSU system's 2004-05 budget. The proposed cut of $240 million when added to the 2003-04 General Fund cut of $531 million brings the two-year cut to $771 million or a 28.8 percent reduction in the CSU budget.

If enacted as proposed, the budget will have a major impact on CSU campuses. It would eliminate outreach and retention programs and proposes to redirect a large number of freshman students to the community colleges and impose additional fees on students who take more units than a specified minimum number required for graduation.

The governor's proposal also calls for student fee increases of 10 percent for undergraduate students, 40 percent for graduate and post-baccalaureate students and 20 percent for non-resident students. Together with other budget adjustments in health benefits and funding for mandatory costs, the net fiscal impact on the California State University would be $220.4 million.

There are a number of ways to measure the massive impact of such a budget reduction. However, the most important one is that the cuts will force campuses to reduce enrollment by as much as 20,000 students across the system. Although we have not received specific budget figures, we estimate that the fiscal impact on California State University, Bakersfield will be between 9 percent and 10 percent.

Closing the doors to higher education for California students will have major negative consequences. It is important for our governor and our Legislature to consider some of the following realities in making their final decisions about higher education budget cuts:

* University graduates earn nearly twice as much over a lifetime as high school graduates.

* More educated workers mean greater productivity, a stronger hi-tech work force, higher tax revenues and decreased reliance on government support.

* Until now, the CSU has been the nation's largest university system, the most diverse, the most affordable, and the most accessible.

* The CSU graduates 77,000 students a year into the workforce.

* The CSU prepares California's nurses, teachers, computer scientists, engineers, and business and agricultural leaders.

The impact on Californians across the state of that major a reduction in the number of students who will be able to attend a CSU institution will indeed be massive. It is a sad day indeed for a state with such a proud history -- one that certainly through the last several decades has led the nation in making its state universities truly accessible and truly the people's university.

State Sen. Walter Stiern and Assemblywoman Dorothy Donahoe, two of our region's greatest champions of higher education would be quick to join us in lamenting this new reality that is forcing the closure of the doors of higher education to the people of California.

Tomás A. Arciniega is president of California State University, Bakersfield. Community Voices is an expanded commentary that may contain up to 500 words. The Californian reserves the right to reprint commentaries in all formats, including on its Web page.