Some San Diego State University students are wondering how they’ll manage to cover school expenses next year after Cal State University trustees approved a 15-percent tuition increase by next fall.
It is a two-step increase. Fees for the remainder of this school year will rise 5 percent, and then by another 10 percent next fall. That will bring in-state tuition costs up to more than $4,800 a year. These increases come after tuition rose by more than 30 percent for this fall compared to last year.
San Diego State Junior Concepcion Guzman said she was already stretched financially to enroll as a full-time student.
“I’m already taking out various loans to pay my tuition,” Guzman said. “So, an increase will definitely affect me, in that I’ll have even deeper debt than I am already in. In the end, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to pay for all this money.”
Guzman is studying Spanish and history and plans to become a teacher after graduating. She said the prospect of finding a job quickly in order to begin paying her debt is poor given the current economy.
Another junior, Carols Vega, is worried about being able to make his tuition payments since he isn’t covering his education costs with loans. He said when he started at San Diego State he paid about $2,000 per semester. This year that jumped to about $2,800.
“I have to ride my bike here, or (take the) trolley, and not use the car, and work more hours during the weekends trying to scratch more money,” he said. “It’s a struggle.”
Trustees said the new increases were necessary to offset past state funding cuts. But critics say chronic underfunding cannot be solved on the backs of students.
“These increases shine light on a broken system,” San Diego Assemblyman Marty Block wrote in a statement released Thursday. We need “to explore real solutions and to develop a long-term vision for how we are going to maintain excellent and affordable higher education systems that will ensure we are able to produce enough college graduates to keep California competitive in a global economy.”
