The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved tuition increases for the fall 2017 term. Annual tuition for resident undergraduate students will increase by $270 and will generate $77.5 million in net revenue for student success initiatives including Graduation Initiative 2025. The tuition increases are the system's first since 2011.
"The university faces a critical juncture where additional revenue is needed if we are to continue the trajectory that has seen campuses reach all-time highs in graduation rates," said Steve Relyea, CSU executive vice chancellor and chief financial officer. "If our advocacy efforts do not result in adequately funding the trustees' budget request, the revenue generated by this increase will allow us to add faculty, courses, advisors and other resources to improve students' opportunities for success. This is not a course of action that is taken lightly. Through the university's robust financial aid program we will ensure that students who require the most financial assistance will not face any additional burden associated with the tuition increase."
Revenue generated by the increases will be directed to student achievement efforts including Graduation Initiative 2025. The initiative encompasses a set of strategies that will allow CSU campuses to double four-year graduation rates and eliminate all equity gaps for low-income and underserved students. With California currently on pace to fall one million bachelor's degrees short of the number required for the future workforce, CSU campuses can graduate an additional 500,000 students over the next decade with sustained funding for the initiative.
Beginning fall 2017, the annual tuition rate for a full-time undergraduate student will increase to $5,742. Similar increases for non-resident tuition, as well as graduate, doctoral and teacher credential programs will also take effect next fall. The university remains committed to keeping costs as low as possible for students. Through the university's financial aid program, more than 60 percent of all CSU undergraduate students receive grants or waivers to cover the full cost of tuition. This results in more than 255,000 students not paying tuition. The increase will have no financial effect on this same group of students. In total, 80 percent of CSU students receive some form of financial aid – the university distributed more than $4 billion in aid in 2015-16.
About the California State University
The California State University is the largest system of senior higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, 50,800 faculty and staff and 479,000 students. Half of the CSU's students transfer from California Community Colleges. Created in 1960, the mission of the CSU is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever changing needs of California. With its commitment to quality, opportunity, and student success, the CSU is renowned for superb teaching, innovative research and for producing job-ready graduates. Each year, the CSU awards more than 110,000 degrees. One in every 20 Americans holding a college degree is a graduate of the CSU and our alumni are 3 million strong.