The independent student news site of San Marcos, California

The Cougar Chronicle

The independent student news site of San Marcos, California

The Cougar Chronicle

The independent student news site of San Marcos, California

The Cougar Chronicle

TUITION RISES 9 PERCENT FOR FALL 2012

Tuition for Cal State San Marcos students will rise another 9 percent next fall as the result of a budget vote last week by the California State University Board of Trustees.

At a raucous meeting in Long Beach on Nov. 16 – where student protestors disrupted the meeting by chanting and waving signs – trustees voted 9 to 6 to approve a budget that will raise tuition by $498 per year to $5,970 beginning in fall 2012.

CSU tuition has more than doubled since 1999, when it was $2,572 per student. Over the years, tuition hikes covered budget deficits caused by declining state support. The CSU’s $2 billion budget for 2012-2013 is smaller than the $2.14 billion budget in 1999, even though there are 72,000 more students attending CSU campuses today, trustees reported.

University officials anticipate the latest tuition increase will be the last for the 2012-2013 school year – even though the state may cut the CSU budget by another $100 million if year-end tax revenues come up short.

“If they cut another $100 million from the budget, our portion would be $2.5 million,” said Cal State San Marcos spokeswoman Margaret Lutz. “We have some ideas on how to keep those cuts from negatively impacting students or instruction.”

She said this may include shifting some carryover funds from last year and revenue from self-supporting operations on campus as well as using extra money that accumulated when CSUSM exceeded its fall enrollment goals.

More than 50 percent of the students at Cal State San Marcos receive some form of financial aid, including more than 1,000 scholarships. Lutz said the university system is now looking for ways to expand the financial aid program to cover even more students.

“We’re looking at ways to expand that to cover the middle income students – the ones who aren’t making enough to get by but make too much to qualify for aid,” Lutz said.

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