To the dismay of many, the CSU board of trustees have officially approved a tuition hike, which would start in Fall 2024. This increase would raise tuition by a whopping 6% annually for the next five years, after which there would be a re-assessment on how things will proceed moving forward. The reasoning given is due to severe budget cuts that have affected schools nationwide, preventing much-needed remodeling, upgrades, and budgets to fund classes, not to mention entire programs and smaller departments. While it goes without saying that the educational system in America is currently lacking, this will negatively impact students who have a hard time affording their education as it is. There are many who are not able to get financial aid, or housing, let alone in an area such as San Francisco which is known to be one of the most expensive areas in the world currently, with outrageous rent and cost of living. The negative impacts of this will eventually give those wanting to learn less of an incentive to get an education, and therefore the state schools in question will suffer in the long-run.
Protests over CSU tuition hikes
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT86Umq2N/
It may not be too late to still make our voices heard and make some sort of change, however. There are still protests going on and resources (even ones specific to San Francisco State) that will keep you updated and show what you can do to be a part of the movement. The League of Filipino Students (@lfssfsu on Instagram) is one of the many organizations on campus organizing trips and rallies in opposition of the tuition increase.
Though it goes without saying that teachers make far less than they deserve, the way to fix the problem is not by punishing the students, but rather, by working to change the system that has caused this issue in the first place. Overall, the severity of the fallback from this motion will further decrease student enrollment and graduation rates in general, as well as impacting not only more local students who might not need to worry as much about housing, but those from other states and countries as well. In an era where we are still in a pandemic that is showing no signs of subsiding anytime soon, there may be a time where we will have to return to a world of classes via zoom. Many might not see the point of pursuing a degree, if they are not getting the full on-campus college experience. There were some who voted against the hike, but the majority voted for it, hence why it ended up passing. It is definitely not the end of it, and all we can do now is to be proactive, and join forces in a way that will make an impact for current and future generations, so that we are not stuck in an cycle where students are having to rely on high interest loans that will keep drastically rising along with the cost of tuition, and instead would have more campus-based aid opportunities, such as work-study. In the meantime, we should continue to make our voices heard.
Resources and more info here:
CFA (california faculty association): https://www.calfac.org/
AS Board of Directors: https://asi.sfsu.edu/board-of-directors
DSA (Young Democratic Socialist of America): https://y.dsausa.org/