The 2004/05 CSU budget proposed by the CSU Board of Trustees has no frills. The Trustees approved the budget that was intended to cover just the system's existing and anticipated expenses. CFA supports the proposal.
The proposed budget is $546.6 milloin more than the $2.6 billion appropriated from the state the previous year. But CFA anticipates cuts to instruction and student outreach to make up for a massive state budget shortfall.
After Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger presented his state budget proposal on Jan. 9, the California Legislature began debating it, including the appropriation for the CSU. According to the state constitution, the Legislature must adopt the budget by June 15.
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• See CFA's analysis of Schwarzenegger's proposed 2004/05 state and CSU budgets.Click Here
• View a Quicktime Movie presentaton of the proposed CSU budget.
• Download the Powerpoint presenation of the proposed CSU budget.
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• See the actual 2004/05 CSU budget proposed by the CSU Board of Trustees.Click Here
Students fees have climbed sharply since December 2002 when the CSU Trustees started a series of raises. The cumulative raise through the 2004/05 academic year is 63%.
With their 2005/06 budget request, the Trustees also voted to raise undergraduate fees another 8% and graduate student fees another 10% to start in July 2005.
CFA is calling for a moratorium on fee increases until the impact of the hikes already imposed are studied. No one, not the CSU administration, not the state legislature, not the governor's office, has studied whether the fee increases are affecting students' ability to attend the CSU.
• See charts tracking the increases in student fees since December 2002
• See the CSU Trustees’ July 2003 resolution raising student fees. Click Here (pdf)
• See CFA’s report on the July 16 Trustees meeting. Click Here (pdf)
• See CFA’s Feb. 2003 resolution on student fees. Click Here (pdf)
In 2003, the CSU’s Educational Opportunity Program was threatened by the budget axe. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed in late 2003 a $52 million cut from student outreach programs, particularly EOP. This would have come on top of a 50 percent cut made earlier in 2003.
EOP represents a necessary tool for the CSU to live up to its mission of providing a quality higher education to the diverse population of California.
Without EOP, the CSU would suffer. As a result of protests and other action by students, EOP counselors, and CFA, funding for EOP was restored by the state legislature to the 2004/05 CSU budget.
“The CSU is becoming an inaccessible institution — especially to middle and low-income students. We are fearful for the future of our university and for the students we serve.” — CFA Affirmative Action Committee Chair Cecil Canton to the State Senate’s education budget committee Dec. 10, 2003.
