CSU board approves tuition increase amid protests
The California State Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a 6% tuition increase for the next five years, which will apply across all 23 campuses.
In the last 12 years, tuition has only increased once by 5%.
CSU Assistant Vice Chancellor Ryan Storm stated that the multi-year tuition proposal, which was announced earlier this year, would schedule tuition rate increases for five years, beginning during the fall 2024 semester.
The CSU tuition for undergraduates, which stands at $5,742, will now cost $6,084 for the 2024-25 school year. At the end of the five-year-proposal, tuition will be $7,682.
CSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Steve Relyea said that the proposal would ensure the university model would be more sustainable and predictable for prospective students, as costs have been fluctuating.
Relyea and Storm also said that in addition to the tuition hike, financial aid will increase by $58 million for the 24-25 school year, as will funding for student basic needs programs.
About 60% of undergraduate students, Relyea and Storm stated, have their tuition fully covered by non-loan aid.
Students and faculty members at the protests during the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach said that they were angered by the decision to increase tuition.
Robert Hogg, a Union of Academic Workers at the CSU trustee and CSUN graduate student, said that student workers were only offered a one-time 4% pay increase.
Hogg, who works as both a teacher’s assistant and a graduate assistant, said that it felt like the CSU was prioritizing pay for CSU presidents and other higher ups in the administration over student needs. Last year, the CSU Board of Trustees voted to increase executive pay by 7%, the lowest executive salary being around $314,900.
“We all know what the focus should be, and it should be delivering a good education to as many people as possible,” Hogg said. “Increasing tuition rates is not the way to do that. Paying people poor wages isn’t the way to do that either.”
But during the Board meeting, trustees said that raising the tuition was necessary for the survival of the CSU.
Trustee Darlene Yee-Melichar said that state tax revenues that support public higher education have been decreasing across the country.
“At the last board meeting, we heard from Trustee [Julia] Lopez who reported for the Sustainable Financial Model committee that the CSU will have a 1.5 billion dollar shortfall,” Melichar said. “And although EVC Relyea and AVC Storm’s report was comprehensive and informative, it’s sobering news.”
Melichar also said she was concerned that, because of growing costs, the next generation of students would not be able to have access to the same educational opportunities their parents and grandparents had.
Melichar said that she believes the multi-year tuition proposal would reduce the growing deficit in the CSU budget.
More updates to come.
Latest Daily Sundial
- Making Space at the Table: Founder Cindy Giovacchino on Why Representation in Financial Services MattersThe financial services industry has made strides toward inclusivity, but the lack of diversity in leadership remains a persistent challenge. For decades, finance was largely shaped by a narrow band...
- The Job Market for Newly Graduated Financial AnalystsThe job market for financial analysts has remained robust during the post-COVID era. The strong profitability of financial institutions, which benefit from higher interest rates and a multi-year stock market...
- What Skills Matter Most for First-Time Teachers in 2025(Image created by Microsoft Copilot) Starting your first teaching job in 2025 brings a whole new set of expectations and opportunities. As classrooms grow more diverse and digital tools continue...
- How Campus Leaders Can Tackle Cybersecurity in 2025Image by StockSnap from Pixabay Technology has evolved, and with it, attackers and ill-intended actors have become more sophisticated. Nowadays, thugs don’t have to break into spaces to steal money...
- OPINION: “ICE out of LA” A peaceful protest interrupted by violence.“Leave the area! Leave the area!” shouted LAPD officers on horses as they pushed, kicked and hit protestors leaving Gloria Molina Grand Park by City Hall in Downtown Los Angeles....
- Summer Game Fest 2025 boasts exciting announcements and explosive revealsSummer Game Fest 2025 marked an impressive outing for the annual showcase. Each year, some of gaming’s largest developers come together in Los Angeles to reveal their upcoming or in-development...