State Budget a Reflection of Student Power

The recent passing of the state budget by the Governor and legislature signals a shift in public policy from a previous decade of CSU budget cuts and student fee increases.  Below are some key victories: Proposed Student Unit Caps Defeated Earlier this year, Governor Jerry Brown released a proposal to charge college students “the full cost of instruction” if they exceeded a specified cap on the amount of course units that they could take. For CSU students who exceeded these unit caps, this would have resulted in having to pay $1,116 for every 3-unit semester class, or $744 for every...

#Capped Out: Governor Brown’s Proposal to Cap Education

For students in the California Public University, graduating on time can be tough. Tuition hikes, added fees, and a lack of available classes create roadblocks to attaining the education we need (and pay for). In fact, only 16% of CSU students graduate in 4 years. And why is that percentage so low? In a survey of over 2,800 students, we found that 50% delayed because they can’t get the classes they need. So it would follow that a solution to increasing graduation rates would be to provide more classes. However Governor Jerry Brown’s new budget proposal is taking a much more drastic...

We won! SQE statement on defeating CSU’s proposed “Punishment Fees!”

Today the CSU Board of Trustees made an unprecedented decision on a scheduled fee increase vote—they cancelled it. Around 8:00am today, Tuesday, November 13th, the CSU Board of Trustees released this statement: “California State University Trustees have postponed reviewing a plan to improve access and reduce time to degree. The proposal to modify the current undergraduate fee structure was part of the agenda for today’s Board of Trustees meeting and will now be reviewed at a later date after Trustees gather additional information and input from stakeholders.” The fees were promptly removed from both today’s and tomorrow’s agenda. This is...

Preliminary Results for SQE’s Survey on Obstacles to Graduating Released!

We have surveyed almost 2,400 CSU students statewide, asking them directly for the reasons why they’re struggling to graduate. The Chancellor, by contrast, has surveyed zero students. You can view the full document here or click on the thumbnail below: Our findings clearly show that CSU students want to graduate. They don’t need higher tuition as an incentive to graduate; they just can’t get classes they need. Students say they will need more than four years to graduate because they can’t get classes and because of their personal economic situation, not because they are taking too many classes and prefer...

Sac Bee Editorial Demolishes CSU’s Proposed Punishment Fees

From the Sacramento Bee: Editorial: CSU fees an insult to students, voters By the Editorial Board Published: Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 6E With passage of Proposition 30, voters spared California’s public universities from major budget cuts and student fee increases. Students in the California State University system who have seen significant tuition increases – from $3,000 five years ago to $5,500 today – won’t see a new general increase. Yet CSU Chancellor Charles Reed, in a parting shot to close out his 14-year tenure, is rushing through a proposal before he turns the CSU system...