The California State University Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on a 15.5 percent student fee increase next week.

“The chancellor’s office is proposing to increase tuition in a two-step process to support 30,000 students this spring and give students and families more time for financial planning,” CSU spokesman Erik Fallis said on Monday.

The fee increases will be taken up by the financial committee on Tuesday and by the full board on Wednesday.

The first phase is a 5 percent mid-year fee increase, which will take effect in the beginning of spring. The second is a 10 percent fee increase starting in 2011-12 academic year. If both phases are adopted, fees for full-time undergraduate students will be about $4,779 by fall 2011, a 13 percent increase from this year.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal originally included a 10 percent fee increase. Earlier this semester, the Board of Trustees adopted only a 5 percent fee increase based on the Assembly’s version of the budget proposal, which assumed additional state revenues will cover the other half of the funding.

But because the signed budget does not include the expected funding, the CSU will impose the other portion of the fee increase, which translates into an additional $105 per year for full-time undergraduate students, Fallis said.

“In order for us to bring our levels that we would have been under the governor’s proposed budget, we would have to increase fees by 5 percent,” Fallis said.

The 10 percent fee increase is equivalent to about $444per year for undergraduate students, Fallis said.

“Because we’re bringing in 30,000 students in the spring, we need to make sure we can provide quality educational experience,” Fallis said. “Part of the way we’re doing that this semester is based on federal stimulus funds.”

The CSU has received $106 million in stimulus funds, which had been subtracted from the governor’s budget proposal. The funds allowed the CSU to meet its payroll and use General Fund support and student fee revenues previously budgeted for payroll to admit new students and restore courses.

However, there will be no additional stimulus funds next fiscal year, which is why the CSU is “building on” the 10 percent fee increase to make sure there will be enough funds to support students, said Chris Chavez, president of the California State Student Association.

Much is also uncertain about next fiscal year’s budget.

“We won’t know that until probably the summer of next year,” Fallis said, “and of course, we have to make decisions before that because students need longer than that.”

Fallis said the chancellor’s office is hoping not to implement the 10 percent fee increase by requesting the governor and the Legislature to buy it out through state funds. The request will be made in next week’s board meeting.

Sacramento State’s student fees for full-time undergraduate students have gone from $3,048 to $4,230 since 2008-09, a 37 percent increase after adjusting for inflation.

Fallis said the fee increases will affect about half the CSU’s student population not covered by financial aid.

“About half of our undergrads do not pay tuition. Their tuition is fully covered by Cal Grants, state university grants, waivers and Pell Grant,” Fallis said. “Specifically with the Cal Grants, those automatically adjust to cover whatever your tuition level is.”

Kristine Guerra can be reached at [email protected].