Californians scramble to keep college affordable

Christina Nguyen
New America Media
Dec 7, 2007

Editor’s Note: Tuition hikes are making university out of reach for increasing numbers of young Californians. A proposed ballot initiative tries to hold costs down, but many students worry that they may be forced to cut their education short. Christina Nguyen, 21, is a journalism student at San Francisco State University. An earlier version of her story ran in the Golden Gate [X]press.

SAN FRANCISCO - As tuition hikes at California State University and University of California institutions have nearly doubled within the last six years, college affordability and accessibility has never been more of a major issue for students.

San Francisco State Pre-nursing student Alfred Bautista, 19, said that his parents struggle to pay for his tuition and have to pay in installments.

Bautista said the tuition hikes "make students think twice about wanting to go to a CSU," and now some of his friends opt to complete their general education at a community college and then transfer to a CSU or UC.

“I have a lot of friends that want to go [to San Francisco State], but they may go to a community college to save money," Bautista said. "For fees to increase, it makes me regret going to a CSU right away."

Students like Bautista cannot keep up with the rising cost of public higher education in California. If students have their way, a ballot initiative will freeze mandatory undergraduate resident student fees in the CSU and UC systems.

Students & Families for Tuition Relief Now filed papers for the College Affordability Act of 2008 with the state attorney general on Nov. 14. The Act will block fee increases for five years beginning in July 2009, and prevent future tuition hikes from exceeding the annual change in the cost of living.

The College Affordability Act of 2008 mandates that millionaires pay an additional one percent tax on every dollar over $1 million earned, which would provide a new source of revenue, said lead organizer Jeremy Bearer-Friend. The Act mandates that 60 percent of the new revenue shall be allocated to the CSU and UC systems, and 40 percent be used to fund K-14 public schools.

“We’re committed to maintaining the quality of the CSU system,” Bearer-Friend said. “We don’t see ourselves at odds with them, but we believe that to maintain the quality of CSU, it needs to serve its own mission, which is to be accessible to California residents and be reflective of the diversity of California.”

The state attorney general will review and return the ballot initiative documents in 45 days. Students will then have until mid-April to gather approximately 400,000 signatures from registered California voters to qualify for the November 2008 ballot.

The filing comes shortly after the CSU Board of Trustees and UC Board of Regents voted to oppose Proposition 92, which would change the way money is allocated to state community colleges and cap and lower the current fee per unit to $15. While proposition 92 is not related to the College Affordability Act, the measure comes at a time when every tier of public higher education is struggling for money from the state general fund.

“[Proposition 92 is] a great example of why this ballot initiative is so important,” said Valeria Fike-Rosales, another lead organizer of Students & Families for Tuition Relief Now. “There are a lot of questions about funding for higher education, and it’s time for the state to look at their priorities and put education high on the list.”

The current $20 fee per unit at community colleges are among the lowest in the nation, and the CSU argues that Proposition 92 would “mean less money for the CSU and UC system,” said CSU spokesperson Paul Browning.

“At the community colleges, lower income students already get few waivers,” Browning said. “The CSU said that passage of prop 92 could mean leaner times, less funds from the state, and a smaller pool of discretionary funds from Sacramento for higher education in general.”

The ballot initiative was filed because past strategies such as student protests and walkouts have not wielded pressure on the CSU or UC, Bearer-Friend said. Students & Families for Tuition Relief Now have a mission to ensure that college education is affordable and attainable for students by limiting fees.

“A lot of the thinking behind the campaign is that these institutions are important to California citizens,” Bearer-Friend said. “It’s the children of California citizens that want to know that they can go to schools, and the business owners that want to know they can count on an educated workforce.”

Even if the College Affordability Act is approved by voters in November 2008, the UC Board of Regents may vote to reject the Act because the board is only bound to the state constitution. The regents reject the funding that could be generated from the Act if they fail to comply, and the money will be passed along to the CSU.

“The UC is constitutionally autonomous, so that means unless there’s a constitutional amendment, you can’t pass laws the regents are bound to,” Bearer-Friend said. “But they have a strong interest in abiding by it because they would gain access to the revenue it generates.”

Despite the increasing tuition at CSU and UC institutions, some community college students are determined to transfer and graduate from a four-year university. While Jenny Nool, 21, will be transferring from City College of San Francisco to San Francisco State this spring, she said that the fluctuating fees are disconcerting. If the College Affordability Act is not approved and tuition skyrockets in the future, Nool may be forced to cut her college education short.

“I came in prepared knowing that the fees would fluctuate,” Nool said. “If it came to the point where I couldn’t afford it, I’d probably stop attending.”