Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez presented the budget for Sac State at the Budget Town Hall meeting Tuesday.

The university’s budget for 2011-12 is $254 million, or 6 percent of the total California State University budget. Next year, Sac State will face a $24 million reduction.

The state of California is facing a budget shortfall of $26.4 billion and the CSU system has a deficit of $500 million, Gonzalez said. Student fees will help cover $98 million of the CSU deficit.

“We want to maintain the quality of instruction and continue to improve the graduation rates of students. Can we continue to do what we’re doing and move the students through in a quicker and efficient way?” he said.

The CSU becomes more reliant on student fees when there is a decline in state support, Gonzalez said.

Every time student fees go up, one-third of those fees go back into financial aid, Gonzalez said. This gives assurance to the underprivileged that they will be able to attend a CSU.

“Cutting across the board isn’t going to help. We have to look at efficiencies and look at how we are conducting the admission process and enrollment into classes. It’s something we’ve all agreed upon. Cutting across the board is not going to be an option,” he said.

Gonzalez said there is some saved-up money available from previous years but it cannot be used up all in one year.

“That will be the real tricky part,” Gonzalez said. “Let’s try to eliminate the angst now. If we are not careful, the hurt will be doubled the following year.”

Mallory Fites can be reached at [email protected]