Following the confirmation that there will not be a tuition increase for students during the 2019/20 school year, new information pertaining to the new budget plan will not be certain until CSUSM’s new president is appointed.

At the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1, a new budget for CSUSM is created to be spent during the school year.  At the CSU level, the CSU Board of Trustees along with the senior leadership in the Chancellor’s office has the authority to decide where the portions of the allocations are targeted to.

At this campus, the president with consultation from the Executive Council, consisting of the Vice Presidents from the different divisions and the Chief of Staff, decide what percentages of the budget is designated for specific uses.

Administrators do not have exact numbers pertaining to next year’s budget until the new president decides where CSUSM’s budget money will be directed to.

“Like every year, we can be certain of uncertainty,” said Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services, Neal Hoss. “Most obviously is the appointment of a new president to lead the campus and his/her impact on campus operations and the budget.”

CSUSM’s new president will be announced over livestream on March 19 and 20 during the Board of Trustees meeting.

CSUSM has not experienced an increase in tuition and student fees since the 2016/17 school year. One of the reasons CSUSM has not experienced a tuition increase is due to California’s new governor Gavin Newsom as he claims to advocate for higher education. Joint efforts by the Chancellor’s Office, students, faculty, staff and the community have helped bring to light the impact of funding for the CSU system.

“With the good news that the governor’s budget includes increased funding for the CSU, we may know our initial allocation earlier than in recent years that will be the greatest impact,” Hoss said. “Then it will depend upon how much is allocated to our campus and where it is designated, since most if not all of the funds provided are for mandatory and other non-discretionary uses.”

Mandatory costs that are included in the State Allocation budget include compensation increases and health care costs.

The livestream of the March Board of Trustees meeting can be found here: https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/livestream  

To learn more about CSUSM’s budget and finances, visit: https://www.csusm.edu/budgetoffice/index.html