Tag: Tuition

CSU Board votes to raise tuition by 6%

Andres Felix Romero and Brad Butterfield

On September 13th, the CSU board of trustees approved a tuition increase of 6%, every year, for the next five years. In effect, this will raise tuition costs by $1,940 in the 2028-2029 school semester as compared to tuition in the 2023-2024 semester. CSU cites inflation, the rising cost of living, and a lack of rising tuition rates as reasons for the compounded 6% increase over the next five years. For their part, students cite inflation, the rising cost of living, and six figure salaries for upper level administrators as reasons for their frustration with the tuition increase.

In defending the hike in tuition, CSU states that inflation has grown by 39% over the last twelve years while tuition has only increased by 5%. CSU expects a whopping 860 million in revenue in the five years post tuition hike, with 280 million being put towards financial aid.

Among the top priorities for the millions being brought in from the tuition include: expanding the work of the CSU’s Graduation Initiative, providing non-loan financial aid to assist students, increase in salaries for faculty and staff, and infrastructure projects.

Crucially, the tuition increase will cease at the end of the 2028-2029 school year. Tuition will remain at those rates unless the board of trustees votes again to increase.

CSU states that their current budget revenues are not sufficient to sustain current operations. The six-figure salaries of many CSU employees stoke the flame of frustration for students struggling to afford their education at the current tuition cost.

Prior to the increase being approved, it was heavily opposed by students, staff and faculty across the CSU system. In Long Beach alone, the CSU unions CSUEU, Teamsters 2010, and the CFA protested the tuition increase alongside the student-led rights group, the Students for Quality Education (SQE) outside of the Chancellor’s office where the tuition would be eventually decided. SQE member, Jackie Barrett, laments how the higher-ups in the education system generate thousands of dollars in income, yet the CSU persists they need more funds to sustain itself and pay its workers.

“They say that they need the tuition increases so they can pay faculty and all this stuff,” said Barrett, “But the new chancellor with all of her benefits such as housing, car allowance, after all of that she makes almost a million dollars a year. And campus presidents make anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000. [CSU] say they don’t have the money, but they definitely have the money. It’s just not in the right places.”

Even here on Humboldt’s campus, President Jackson’s salary was raised 14% from last year making his salary $396,150 with a $50,000 housing stipend.

Marisol Ruiz, President of the CFA Humboldt Chapter and Professor, noted the possible ramifications the tuition increase could have on the upward mobility of CSU students in the future.

“We know what [the tuition increase] means,” said Ruiz. “The students are going to have [higher] loans and what is that going to do? That’s going to make [students] indebted, that’s going to take away freedom to be wherever [students] want to be, and to do whatever [students] want to do. [Loans] affects your freedom to move,and it affects your freedom to have better opportunities.”

Saturday, September 23, 2023
Tuition Refund Petition Reflects Student Experience

With labs, classrooms and most facilities on campus closed, what is being done with student tuition?

After Humboldt State University canceled in-person classes three weeks ago, students created a change.org petition calling for a reimbursement of tuition. With 2,000 students and supporters rallying behind it, perhaps HSU will bring their concerns into the conversation. Regardless of the administration’s acknowledgement, or lack thereof, HSU students are and will be experiencing a drop in the quality of their education.

As a journalism major, our classes haven’t been heavily impacted, but our access to the university spaces we all pay for is not as integral as for majors like art, dance, theatre and lab sciences.

Bryan Gambrel, a kinesiology major at HSU, said the switch to online labs has affected his motivation to learn the material. With an inability to use the lab spaces, the only way to show comprehension of the reading material is through quizzes.

“My difficult class has become now something that’s based off of reading rather than three hours of experimenting in a lab,” Gambrel said. “I’m not even sure how they can credit it for your GE.”

Lindsey Miller, an HSU freshman, signed the petition. She is a part of the environmental resources department and is taking a chemistry lab course this semester. With the switch to online classes, lessons consist of videos of the professor completing the experiment. She felt like this semester’s labs were a little more challenging than her first semester.

“Without having that hands-on experience in the lab, I don’t know when people are gonna learn it again.”
Raili Makela

“I was only kinda picking up on it before spring break,” Miller said.

Raili Makela is a fourth year marine biology major at HSU. This semester she had signed up for two labs and two lectures that have now been transitioned into online courses. Makela noticed the switch to online labs has made understanding the concepts more difficult.

“It’s because of that hands-on learning that I really start to understand the other material,” Makela said.

While she has learned a lot from her earlier labs and can work from that knowledge, she is worried about how those getting their first lab experience will be impacted.

“Without having that hands-on experience in the lab, I don’t know when people are gonna learn it again,” Makela said.

The situation we are in is reasonable. There isn’t another option that would keep our students, staff and faculty as safe as the current measures we have in place, but it is our money that’s no longer being spent to keep the doors open. Our tuition is not a goodwill donation. It is an exchange for the resources provided by the institution, and if those resources are not being provided, then we are getting shortchanged on our education.

Saturday, April 11, 2020
Here Are the Refunds Students Can Expect from HSU
Refunds for various fees are available for Humboldt State students in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak

With closures and cancellations occurring left and right, many Humboldt State University students are wondering what kinds of refunds they can receive from the university. Here’s a list of them.

Tuition and Fees:
- Tuition and campus-based fees will continue on as normal for students that are taking courses from their professors to receive grades that factor into graduation.
- If a student wants to withdraw from all spring semester courses, they must act by April 5 to be eligible for a prorated refund of tuition and fees.
- Classes that students with financial aid are withdrawing from will be looked over and potentially adjusted based on the amount of days enrolled.
Housing and Parking:
- If students leave on-campus housing, they will get prorated refunds for both housing and dining fees once they check out.
- Student parking permits will be automatically refunded back to student accounts to the tune of $78.75, 25% of the initial permit cost.
Commencement:
- Automatic refunds will be doled out to students graduating in spring or summer 2020. For more information, email HSU-cash@humboldt.edu
- For unopened and unused regalia, refunds will be issued using the same method the order was placed with.
- For the Graduation Writing Proficiency Exams on March 28 at 9 and 11 a.m. and April 11 at 9 and 11 a.m., all charges will be returned to the students’ accounts and refunds will follow if the student doesn’t have outstanding charges. Keep in mind that the GWPE is still required to graduate, and will be held online for the time being.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Word on the street: Free community college bill

Question: What do you think of Assembly Bill 19? Could it ever be implemented at a four-year university?

Trent Diederic, a senior majoring in Finance says AB 19 could get more people in college, but they would still struggle financially. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“It could be counterproductive. The people who are already on the fence about college would have to keep paying after that first year. At a four-year university, it would be very expensive. Housing and food would still be difficult to find.” – Trent Diedrich, 22, Finance, Senior

Senior Sarah Grover says it is pointless to make only the first year free. Students would still have expenses in the following years. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“If people can live closer to home and still have that ‘freshman experience,’ it could be good encouragement, but freshmen are the largest group to drop out. It makes no sense for just the first year to be free. After that, you still have to work to survive.” – Sarah Grover, 21, International Studies, Senior

A Business major, Zac Alfers says community college is definitely the less expensive route, so AB 19 would get more people in school. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“I wish I went to community college, it’s the less expensive route. Money puts people off about college. It would get more people in school. I can’t see it happening at four-year university though, they like their money too much.” – Zac Alfers, 23, Business, Senior

Stephanie Souter, HSU senior says having more education equality would better the country as a whole. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“Even if it was free, there is still a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into school. But then again, if more people were educated, that would bring up our entire country.” – Stephanie Souter, 21, Psychology, Junior

Friday, October 6, 2017
California Senate pushes for free tuition

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

Assembly Member Miguel Santiago urged Governor Jerry Brown to sign a Assembly Bill 19 (AB 19) on Thursday, Sept. 27, in Los Angeles. AB 19 would give free tuition to community college students.

AB 19 would allow the California Community Colleges to waive fees for first-time students, and full-time community college students for one year. The bill would boost enrollment and graduation rates, expand access to financial aid and decrease student debt. Additionally, AB 19 would support California’s businesses by addressing the shortage of college-educated workers that are needed to sustain the workforce.

Francisco Rodriguez, Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), started the press conference saying they want to change the narrative of public education, an often misunderstood and forgotten branch of higher education.

“The two-year system of California Community Colleges and others around the country have received unprecedented attention because of the role that community colleges play to fuel the economic engine of this country and of California,” Rodriguez said.

According to Rodriguez, the LACCD serves some of the poorest students in the nation. 85 percent of LACCD students are non-white, and half of the students live at or near the poverty line.

“In Los Angeles, where we have a plethora of educational options, we have amongst the lowest rate of participation for adults in higher education,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez quoted a recent study from the Public Policy State of California report, “California needs 1.1 million [graduates] with bachelor’s degrees by 2030 to keep up with economic demand. More college graduates means very clearly, higher incomes better economic mobility, more tax revenue and less demand for social services.”

“The idea of tuition-free community college programs has been spreading across the nation,” Rodriguez said. “California is leading the nation with the idea of universal access to higher education.”

Santiago said education should not be a privilege for the few who can afford it, education is a right that should be free.

“When you leave our education system and you have the tools to compete in the 21st century, you shouldn’t have to be in debt for a decade or two, just because you got a quality education,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that the bill would not be a giveaway. It would be an investment in the students, and that students will benefit from being full-time students. Almost 12 community colleges have signed on to support the bill.

“California has the 6th largest economy in the world. There is no reason why we should not prepare the 21st-century workforce,” Santiago said. “When we’re already behind a million degrees that are much needed to get our economy moving forward and to get it stronger.”

Friday, October 6, 2017
Editorial: Promising free education

By | The Lumberjack Editorial Board

Hope is in sight. Despite the new Presidential administration’s barrage of legislation that raises the cost of higher education, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). re-introduced the College for All Act.

Sanders’ 2015 dream of tuition-free education came a step closer to reality. Along with Sanders, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) presented the bill on April 3.

Although a glimmer of hope exists, we still have to be wary of the reality of the state of politics. The power has changed hands from Democrats to Republicans. Democrats passing legislation with a Republican House and Congress seems unlikely. Republicans are flexing their power by enacting their educational standards and repealing any policies adopted or created under the Obama administration.

As promised, the College for All Act makes all community colleges tuition-free and offers free public tuition at four-year colleges and universities for students earning less than $125,000 a year. The bill calls for the federal government to pay 67 percent of tuition subsidies, leaving state and tribal governments to cover the last third of the cost. The bill also looks out for students already struggling with student loan debt. The bill cuts the government lending rate for new undergraduate borrowers to 1.88 percent and refinances loans for existing borrowers at lower rates as well.

Republican and Democratic views on our education system are counterproductive. The current GOP’s proposed budget cut of $9 billion to the Department of Education eliminates chances for low-income students to earn a college education. These policies snatch the money away from students while the College for All Act gives it back with interest.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017
HSU students share their thoughts on the tuition increase

Jacqueline Gomez, junior, engineering “It was like a slap in the face because they’re not telling us where the money’s going. And I know Lisa [Rossbacher] got a salary increase. So she can get a salary increase, but we have to pay more tuition?”

Brian Taylor, freshman. “If it was going somewhere to actually improve my time here, that’d be okay. But I’d want to know exactly where the money is going. I obviously don’t want to pay the extra money because I’m already going to have a lot of debt for four years of something I don’t even necessarily want to do, but I have to do because that’s what society has put in front of me.”

Dèsha Arthur junior computer science. “I don’t think it’s justified. I don’t think it’s valid. The benefits that it’s going to bring – I don’t think the students think it’s worth while to charge us more. If you’re raising tuition you should be benefitting the students more.”

Sarah Dunn, junior, religious studies. “I just think it’s bulls**t because it’s not going to fund something worth funding. No one – no student at least – is going to benefit from it. The CSU system just seems as corrupt as the government that runs it.”

Khalil Robinson,senior, zoology and biology. “My biggest issue is that there isn’t enough transparency with what they’re doing with the money going towards tuition. They say we need it to build facilities to get more reach with the students. But then when the time comes we’re like ‘where is it? Why aren’t we getting longer library hours? Why do people in the dorms have to pay for toilet paper?’”

Wednesday, April 5, 2017
The Vote is In, Tuition Goes Up

By | Maricela Wexler

On March 22, the California State University Board of Trustees voted 11-to-8 to increase student tuition for the 2017-18 academic year by $270 for undergraduates. There are over 100,000 more students enrolled in the CSU system today than in 1985 and concurrently funding has decreased by 2.9 percent. The state’s gradual abandonment of CSU funding commitments has pressured the Board of Trustees to find alternative financial support for institution services.

The recent vote came as a blow to students and their families statewide who are already struggling with the costs of education. The CSU system is a public institution that relies on state funding to provide high quality education for its students. (jump) With diminishing state support, universities increasingly rely on students and their families to fill the void.

An increase of $270 for the 2017-18 academic year is especially tolling for the large number of low-income students currently enrolled in the CSU system. According to a report commissioned by CSU Chancellor Timothy White, 1 in 10 CSU students today experience homelessness during their college career and one in five do not routinely have enough food. Amidst rising living costs, the state of California is investing $6,888 per student in the California State University system as opposed to the $11,607 it invested in 1985.

The recent Board of Trustees decision strengthens pre existing barriers to higher education for current and prospective low-income students. Additionally, the quality of education students receive is compromised due to insufficient resources. As detailed in the California Faculty Association Spring 2017 report, “Equity Interrupted”, instead of providing a system designed to maximize access and quality for the benefit of the state of California, CSU’s are shrinking access to higher education because of increased tuition, and failing in its duty to support the new generation of CSU students so that they will help our state prosper in the 21st century.

Cost of tuition is not the only thing that has changed in California over the last 30 years. According to the CFA report, the CSU had over 150,000 more students in 2015 than it had in 1985, a student body increase of 64 percent over those 30 years. In 1985, 63 percent of the CSU student body identified as white, and only 27 percent identified with another ethnic group. By 2015, this changed to 26 percent and 62 percent, respectively. CFA Associate Vice President Dr. Cecil E. Canton said in front of the State Assembly in 2016, “as the student body of the CSU became darker, funding became lighter.”

Students around the state have been advocating for the CSU system to reclaim its title as the “people’s university” by demanding free, safe, inclusive, and quality higher education. Students opposing tuition hikes are now moving attention towards the updated budget proposal to be submitted by Governor Jerry Brown’s office this May. Those fighting tuition hikes have not lost hope. There is potential for the Board of Trustees to vote against tuition hikes in the future, which could put pressure on the state to increase the education budget. Other proposals and bills have surfaced, including Assembly Bill 393 which would prohibit California State University and the California Community Colleges from increasing tuition and any mandatory student fees until the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

Student groups currently focusing on this issue at Humboldt State University include: M.E.Ch.A., HSU Green, I.N.R.S.E.P., Double Dare Ya, Humboldt Unity Coalition Front, and Associated Students of HSU, and Power Up!. To find out more about the recent tuition hikes, relevant upcoming legislation, and how the CSU Board of Trustees operates, visit the Cal State website.

Maricela Wexler submitted this piece on behalf of Power-Up! A student advocacy group at HSU. Power-Up!

Photo of HSU’s Power Up! members discussing organizing strategies and tactics to address unequal access to higher education. Photo courtesy of Maricela Wexler

Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Editorial: Freezing tuition fee increase

By | The Lumberjack Editorial Board

At the end of January, the University of California Board of Regents approved a 2.5 percent tuition fee increase to take place in the 2017-2018 academic year. Though the University of California system said that financial aid will cover two-thirds of California undergraduates, protests against the tuition fee increase persist.

Too many rights of college students have been under attack. There are worries about undocumented students’ access to education, the continuance of the anti-discrimination regulation safeguarding our LGBTQ community and the general welfare of our public school system under the direction of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
The increase may seem inconsequential to some, but many students struggle with affording both higher education and the daily cost of living. Decreasing the Pell Grant to cushion the cost of inflation means reducing supplemental income that helps students pay for vital services from transportation to housing.
California State Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva and the California Faculty Association fought against the tuition hike with AB 393, the Student Protection Act. The Act states that the increase in college tuition has surpassed the cost of living while student debt continues to rise.
AB 393 cites a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s statistic that said, “one in four student loan borrowers are either in delinquency or default on their loans.”
The Institute for College Access and Success reports that from 2010-2014, the average student debt rose by 56 percent. 74 percent HSU of graduates had debt in 2014.
The rising student debt numbers indicate that students are struggling to maintain a balance between the high cost of college and necessary expenses like housing, food and healthcare. The resulting cycle of loan defaulting continues to cause an unnecessary drain on the lives of students.
AB 393 suspends the tuition hike and limits the increase of system-wide fees to an amount that was agreed upon on Dec. 2016. This suspension will be in place until the 2019-20 academic year.
The public education system is facing a myriad of problems; now isn’t the time to force a tuition increase. AB 393 also takes into account factors beyond the primary fiscal burdens of the cost of higher education. The Act will help students breathe easier during these contentious times and alleviates at least one worry.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Tuition increase could be stopped by new bill

By Morgan Brizee

On Feb. 21 California Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva held a press conference at Sacramento State University’s campus library to talk about a new bill that she has written. Silva is the assemblywoman for the 65 th District of California covering the communities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Palma, and Stanton. The new bill is called AB 393: The Student Protection Act. This new bill could halt any tuition increases in California for all public community colleges as well as state universities. The bill is also backed by the California Faculty Association(CFA).

A press release by Quirk-Silva said that,“Quirk-Silva authored AB 393: The Student Protection Act in light of the hard realities facing today’s college students, including the deepening of debt and long hours of work that are necessary to live while paying education costs, but that interfere with their studies.”

Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Editorial: Betsy Devos: Public School’s Enemy Number One

Warfare on Educational Welfare

The war on our public education system is on. Betsy DeVos’s appointment as the Secretary of Education is the first indication that our education system is in trouble. DeVos’s devastating record of promoting the deregulation and privatization of schools is the signal for all public school students to arm up with their cell phones and keep their representative’s on speed dial.

DeVos showcased her ignorance on running the public education system during her confirmation hearing which was only compounded by the denial of the second round of questioning.

DeVos has never worked with or attended public school. She has no government experience or experience in running a large organization, and yet she has been deemed fit to run our nationwide education system.

The last two decades of DeVos’s life has been dedicated to the promotion of for-profit charter schools that offer weak accountability standards. DeVos also tirelessly advocates for vouchers to redirect public funding to pay for these private and religious schools.

The problem with this is that the money would come directly from taxpayers’ pockets. You and me. Not only would we have to pay for these new schools, but we wouldn’t have the opportunity to check their credibility or hold them to basic education standards.

DeVos has extreme views on the way our schools should run. In a 2001 interview with The Gathering, a Christian philosophy organization, DeVos said she wants to use these vouchers to “confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God’s kingdom.”

Critics of DeVos are worried about student civil rights. Devos has made it clear that she doesn’t understand the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and it is possible and likely, that DeVos may move to reverse the Obama administration’s direction on LGBTQ student accommodations and the policies dictating how to handle instances of sexual assault.

Our public education system needs reform. Not to be gutted and replaced with an unchecked privatized corporation.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Increasing fees and increasing fears

By: Domanique Crawford

As Humboldt State students struggle with affording available housing and hot meals, we can now add the extra burdens of the proposed tuition fee increase to our list of troubles for the 2017-18 academic school year. Students are surprised the decision is up for discussion and are outraged.

“I think it’s high enough already,” psychology major and single mother Tanya Repair said. “I get financial aid and that’s the only reason I can come.”

University of California will formally propose to the UC Board of Regents at the end of January. The new plan will increase the tuition fee by five percent, and students like Repair who struggle financially are worried about what the increase will mean for them. Funding education is expensive, and that expense is a major deterrence to wanting to reach for anything higher than a high school diploma.

When Governor Jerry Brown enacted the college tuition freeze almost five years ago, it was a temporary halt to the ever-increasing hikes that have already been witnessed in the UC and CSU school systems. These hikes would follow the rate of inflation.

One of the top concerns is that a tuition fee raise, even one that is only five percent, will affect financial aid disbursement amounts because it is the only protection they have against the already high costs of college. Though students want to oppose any increase in educational expenses, the incremental annual increases to tuition is meant to help students manage the additional cost at a more reasonable time frame.

Alice Abler, HSU child development major and scholarship recipient said even though she has money to pay for college, she is worried about other students.

“You want a more diverse population for everyone,” Abler said, “not just people who can afford it.”

According to HSU President, Lisa A. Rossbacher, if the tuition fee is raised then HSU financial aid would be increased to cover low-income students, including qualified California Dream Act students. Financial aid funding will increase to cushion the costs.

“The tuition increase being discussed at the system level would not exceed $270 for full-time undergraduates for an academic year and a similarly proportional increase would apply to graduate students,” Rossbacher said in an e-mail. “The increase would apply to all students in the California State University, including at HSU.”

Although students are angry about the proposed rising tuition, the new fees are designed to provide a cushion for costs for future crises. The administration wants to avoid the steep and dramatic costs we have witnessed in previous years. Eventually, the cost of tuition will rise. Hopefully, the measures the administration have taken will prove viable enough to aid those who already struggle with the high cost of education.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017