CSU Regents Consider Student Fee Increase

ABC News-10, 3/14/07

By Alicia Malaby

The regents of California State University plan to vote Wednesday on a 10 percent student fee hike for the 2007-2008 school year.

The proposed fee increase would generate about $97 million to help offset an expected revenue shortfall, according to CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow.

For fulltime students, the increase would be about $250 a year, pushing fees from about $2,700 to $3,400 annually.

"It's a little irritating every semester coming up to pay your registration fees, there's always an increase for whatever reason," said senior Nehemiah Thrower, who's majoring in engineering at CSU, Sacramento.

Regents have raised student fees about 77 percent since 2002, after years of holding fees steady.
Potes-Fellow added that CSU. fees are still less than comparable universities in other states.

The proposed fee hikes come at a time when CSU. faculty members are negotiating a new contract. They recently voted to authorize a strike because the proposed 15 percent raise from CSU was unacceptable. Part of the proposed fee hike would be used toward faculty salaries, according to CSU officials.

The regents have come under fire recently for paying millions in special perks to departing university officials. Wednesday, the regents will consider a $103,000 retirement settlement to the president of the Dominguez Hills campus.