Christmas came a little late for many of California’s public university students when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on Dec. 28 that the proposed student fee increases for the 2006-07 budget would be eliminated, pending the Legislature’s June budget vote.

In his new budget proposal, which was announced Jan. 10, the governor froze the fee increase by using state revenue to delay the 8 percent increase for undergraduates and the 10 percent increase for graduate students. The freeze would mark the first time student fees would remain unchanged since the 2001-02 budget.

The increases were passed by the Board of Trustees in October as a part of the compact, or handshake deal, made with the governor to increase student fees for three years starting in September 2004, according to the CSU Web site.

The governor’s budget for this year will supply the University of California, California State University and Cal Grant systems with $141.3 million. This money will compensate the college systems for the funds that would have been made by the fee increases.

According to an overview of the budget by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, California’s non-partisan fiscal adviser, the CSU system will receive $54.4 million, which will allow the CSU undergraduate fee to remain at $2,520 per year and not go up $204 ?” thereby leaving the yearly Sacramento State student fee at $3,072 (the $552 difference is the Sac State fee). Such undergraduate student fees make up about one-third of total tuition costs. The graduate fee will not increase $312, but will stay an average of $3,746.

The UC system will get $75 million, which will allow undergraduate fees to stay at an average of $6,141 instead of rising $492, according to the analyst’s office. The graduate student fees, instead of increasing $690, will remain at about $6,897.

$11.9 million will be going towards the Cal Grant scholarship program, a state scholarship fund that mostly benefits private schools and lower-income students. The maximum amount of money that incoming freshmen can receive has been increased from $8,322 to $9,708. According to the analyst overview, this $11.9 million will offset an earlier reduction to the Cal Grant awards.

Director of higher education at the analyst’s office Steve Boilard said the tuition increases would have generated $54.4 million.

“The CSU General Fund is currently at $2.6 billion and with the budget proposal, the fund would increase by 6.9 percent, or $178 million,” Boilard said.

“I want to take advantage of our economic recovery and help the students,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger in a Jan. 18 press conference. “They should share in the California comeback as much as anyone. The budget I submitted last week commits an extra $130 million to both the UC and CSU budgets so that after four years of fee increases, this fall students won’t have to pay a penny more, to learn at these great institutions.”

According to Suzanne Green, associate vice president of financial services at Sac State, the CSU Board of Trustees has already approved the 8 percent tuition increase. If the Legislature in June does not approve the fee freeze in the governor’s budget proposal, then students will have to pay more for tuition this fall semester.

In a Jan. 10 press release, Charles Reed, the chancellor of the CSU system, said, “The elimination of the fee increase provides financial relief to middle-class students, affording them more time to study and less time working to pay for the additional fee increase.”Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget has already received support from college student associations.

“It’s important for students to keep up with this issue because it’s not a done deal, only a budget proposal that has to go through the Legislature,” said Jennifer Reimer, the president of the California State Student Association. “I think the reaction from administration will be positive because budgets for campuses won’t be cut to off-set the fee freeze.”

Anu Joshi, the president of the University of California State Association, said, “Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal is a victory for accessing affordable education.”The governor made a great first step for ’06 and ’07; we hope that he will keep the fee freeze in effect if he is reelected.”

Said Frank Whitlatch, associate vice president for public affairs: “This is good news for students. This will allow them more to spend, more time for education and less time on how to pay for (education).

“In general, the governor, the CSU chancellor and the entire CSU system are really doing all they can to maintain the accessibility and quality of the system.”

Cecil Canton, criminal justice professor and Sac State California Faculty Association chapter president, expressed a different view about the new budget. Canton said that the governor’s budget proposal is “an attempt to get students back in the fold.”He predicts that if the fee increase does not come this year, than it may come next year, only higher.

“This is just a political move by the governor,” Canton said.

Government professor Jean Torcom said that it’s a nice break for current students, but it’s unfair because the fee structure has no consistancy.

Associated Students Inc. President Angel Barajas also warns students to be “very cautious.”

“It’s great to cancel the tuition fees, but students should look for the political move of the governor,” Barajas said. “This is a small victory for students, but it involved a lot of factors.”

If the governor’s budget passes Legislature approval in June, this will freeze fee rates for one year, beginning fall semester. As of press time, it is unknown what the governor proposes to do regarding student fees in 2007.

Jamie Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]