The CSU Today

In the 2023-24 final budget, the CSU received from the state a permanent base budget increase of $330.5 million. The 2023-24 total CSU operating budget of $8.1 billion is comprised of $5.0 billion in state General Fund and $3.1 billion in tuition and fees. New resources to fulfill the CSU’s budget plan for 2024-25 are $557.4 million, as shown in Table 1.

The operating budget supports the main functions of the university and the advancement of the CSU’s student-centered mission and core values. As shown in Table 2, the CSU spends 71%, $5.8 billion, of its total operating budget on instruction, academic support, student services and financial aid. All of these activities promote student access and success, support the faculty and staff that enrich the academic experience and help provide for student basic needs and mental health to ensure that each CSU graduate is prepared to succeed.

The CSU’s core values of inclusive excellence, equity, access and elevating lives through the transformative power of higher education are on exhibit every day across the 23 Cal State universities. At the onset of her appointment, Interim Chancellor Koester commissioned five Chancellor’s Strategic Workgroups and charged them with addressing some of the CSU’s most critical operational and strategic challenges, which included:

• Advancing innovative and effective systemwide and campus approaches to enrollment management.
• Developing a more sustainable financial model.
• Envisioning the next iteration of our Graduation Initiative, and our continuing, collective efforts to advance student success and eliminate equity gaps.
• Recruiting, hiring and retaining diverse and world-class human resources.
• Positioning the CSU as a nationwide leader in Black student outreach, recruitment, enrollment, persistence, success and graduation.

Workgroup reports and recommendations were provided to the Interim Chancellor in May 2023 and will establish a glidepath for Chancellor García to immediately begin meaningful engagement with faculty, staff, students, campus leaders, alumni and other stakeholders in advancing effective solutions. Several recommendations require immediate action and resource commitments that are included in this budget plan. Other recommendations require further evaluation and refinement and will inform future initiatives.

The sustainable financial model workgroup report provided recommendations for developing a multi-year strategy to achieve stable and predictable revenues to support the CSU mission, maintain affordability for its students, and recognize the differing needs of our 23 universities. After estimating costs to operate the CSU, comparing those costs to actual expenditures, projecting future year costs, and modeling various realistic scenarios for increasing the two core revenue sources – state General Fund and tuition – it was evident the gaps between revenues and costs cannot be closed with existing revenue trends. The workgroup developed several recommendations to create long-term financial sustainability that included new system policies and system practices, effective advocacy in Sacramento, and adopting a tuition policy that will govern future increases so those increases are modest, gradual, and predictable for both the CSU and for students and their families.

Financial sustainability and predictability are critically important for the CSU to accomplish its mission and to overcome its challenges. The State of California continues to be a vital partner. California is underwriting the CSU’s efforts in two extremely important and foundational ways. The multi-year compact between the governor and the CSU provides predictable funding over five years for our shared commitments to access, equity and student success. Further, the compact is a critical safety net to protect the university from economic fluctuations. The CSU is grateful for both the past investments as well as the future financial commitments by state leaders.

The 2024-25 budget plan will allow the CSU to significantly improve accountability and compliance in programs such as Title IX and other antidiscrimination work, increase access by enrolling more California students, provide additional resources for the Graduation Initiative, increase student financial aid, improve compensation for all employee groups, cover required operational cost obligations, and make progress on facility and infrastructure needs and critical capital renewal. Funding commitments included in the multi-year compact and the tuition increase will support significant portions of the budget plan. State General Fund dollars above the compact are necessary to support other portions of the plan if the state’s budget condition allows it and if state leaders choose to invest more in the CSU plan.

The budget priorities included in this plan are critical to the university, reflect our core values, promote student success and advance our mission. Understanding this, partners from across the CSU and throughout the state will continue to advocate with a powerful and unified voice for the needed resources for the CSU to continue to transform lives, families and communities as we help drive California to a brighter future.