VIDEO: Students react to fee increases

Last May, the California State University Board of Trustees voted to increase the CSU fee by 10 percent. Then on July 21, the board voted to raise the new fee by another 20 percent, making a total of a 32 percent fee increase for all the schools in the CSU system from the previous year.

The trustees voted 17-1 to increase fees in order to deal with the $584 million state budget cut to the CSU system. Increasing fees was not the only part of the solution. The plan also included furloughs, reduction of enrollment by 40,000 students over the next two years and the closing of spring 2010 admissions.

Even after taking all of these steps to offset the deficit, the CSU system still needs to cut $183 million from its budget. John Kepley, special assistant to the president at Sacramento State, said “nobody likes raising student fees.”

But in order for the CSU system to continue providing services, the trustees “had to look at all options” and there was no single solution to this budget problem, Kepley said.

Teresa Ruiz, CSU spokesperson, said that with all of these new developments in the state’s budget, it has been very challenging. She’s not expecting any dramatic shift in the budget, and she’s aware that the outlook is not great.

“They will have to work with what they have,” Ruiz said.

When broken down, the fee increase raises undergraduate university fees by $672, teacher credential university fees by $780 and graduate student fees by $828. For undergraduate students, annual costs increased from $3,354 to $4,026 this year. Including $801 in various campus fees, the new total comes out to be $4,827 per year for undergraduates at Sac State.

One-third of revenue from fees, or approximately $79 million, will be set aside for financial aid, while $157 million will go to pay off part of the state budget deficit. More than 187,000 CSU students will not have to worry about paying the extra money due to grants, fee waivers and federal tax credits. Although the CSU was hit with a double fee increase, it is one of the largest recipients of Federal Pell grants, according to a Sac State press release.

Many students, whether or not they are given financial aid, are affected by the fee increase. Sophomore Lisa Prefach was shocked when she first heard the news of the increase.

“I didn’t think we would be having fee increases,” she said. “I know our budget isn’t at its best, but still, I thought the politicians ? would figure a way to keep it from getting into the students pockets.”

Some students, like Senior Tianna Jones “kind of expected it,” and said she is not mad about the increases.

Junior Jennifer Gilbertson said she was astonished when she first heard of the fee increase. She realized that the new fee will make things “pretty rough, especially for students who are paying for themselves.”

Because Gilbertson’s parents are paying for her tuition, she said she is not affected by the increases, but her family is not completely off the hook. Both her parents have ended up earning 15 percent less income because of state-imposed furloughs, which Gilberston said affects her parents a lot.

Prefach, like Gilbertson, is not personally affected by the increase.

“I am very lucky,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about if I can make the payments or not because my parents pay for my college education.”

Two students, Travis Donselman from CSU San Bernardino and Samantha Adame from San Francisco State University, took action during the week of Aug. 9 when they decided to file a lawsuit against the CSU Board of Trustees on behalf of all CSU students.

Donselman and Adame claimed when the Board of Trustees announced the first fee increase, it established a contract set at that increased fee. By later adding another fee increase after students paid their registration fees, the board broke that contract. It is illegal to double-bill students, and that is exactly what the students claimed the Board of Trustees did.

Jonathan Weissglass, one of the attorneys representing the two CSU students, said the students approached the law firm about a lawsuit because they were concerned about last-minute fee increases after they were already billed.

“Their goal is to stop the increases for those who haven’t paid and get refunds for those who have,” Weissglass said.

“The fee increase may be unfortunate, but it’s a reality,” Ruiz said. She said she can accept that the Board of Trustees did what they had to do and that “they’re not picking on us.”

When Jones heard about the lawsuit, she said it was crazy and said she thinks Donselman and Adame have “no chance” of winning.

Freshman Jason Wong said the Board of Trustees “increased the fee because the state doesn’t support the college.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” said freshmen Paul Olalde. “They got to do what they got to do to get the money.”

He also said he does not think the students have a chance of winning the case. Gilbertson, on the other hand, said he thinks it’s great that Donselman and Adame took up the lawsuit. The case was granted an expedited hearing on Monday.

Cayla Gales can be reached at [email protected].