A California Republican

So - The Governor of California, in order to help fill the $11.2 billion hole in the budget this year, has proposed to cut $132 million from the UC budget. cuts are also proposed for the CSU and community college systems.

This sounds like a high amount. But then consider these facts: the CSU system has the lowest tuition to a state school for residents of all the states. The CA community college system charges $20.00 a unit - and waives that fee for most of its students with hardships. That is the lowest fee for community colleges in all the states as well.

So the CSU system and the community colleges are saying that they have to make mid-year cuts. Really? People who can affor $20.00 a unit for community college - and are paying that amount - won’t be hurt if you raise it to $25.00 a unit. For a student with 12 units, that is a $60.00 increase per semester - so $240.00 over the 4 semesters that they spend at community college. That is someone’s Starbucks budget. The same students crying over the increase are the ones buying coffe, buying lunches out, and going to to dinner and movies. A student on a true budget wouldn’t likely be able to afford some of those luxuries. I am a working adult, and we have to curtail movies because they are so expensive! $240.00 is 60 lattes from Starbucks. It is 24 movies (at $10.00 a tickets, which is the price where I live). It isn’t that big of a jump.

For a CSU student who pays approximately $1800.00 to be a full-time student, jumpting that to $2000.00 isn’t that large of a jump. That is $200.00 a semester - or $1600.00 for a four-year education. Which is still less than the tuition for one semester. $200.00 a semester is less than the increase a community college student would see.

But students are ocmplaining about the increase. And so are the colleges. So instead they are cutting programs. And cutting teachers. And cutting certificate programs that allow someone who cannot be a full-time student to get a certificate and then go work. So let’s not consider the fact that education in California is seriouslly cheap and students don’t pay their fair share. Instead, let’s simply cut services because that means eventually the state will have to bail the system out.

This kind of thinking shows a sense of entitlement that comes from - well I don’t know where. You aren’t entitled to a cheap college education. You aren’t even entitled to a college education. It is a privilege. If you have to pay for it - so be it. If that means you have to graduate with debt - join the club. Those of us who opted to go for a private college with a stellar reputation also have to graduate with debt. You, by choosing a state school, don’t get to -necessarily- graduate without debt. Your tuition at a state school - even if they doubled the fees - would still be significantly cheaper than a private school. College gives you a valuable leg up - why shouldn’t you have to pay for it?

Californians seem to feel entitled to a lot of government spending. In good times, the government agrees with you and has provided a lot of spending that cannot be sustained in bad times. So now we are in bad times - why not have you pay for your education? I don’t want to subsidize you.

Here’s the other thing - the UC and CSU systems aren’t even breaking even with their research contracts, donations, endowments and student fees. In CA, we subsidize higher education much more than in any other state. It is time that the higher education systems took some role in making themselves self-sufficient. Every year they cry when they have to take cuts - well maybe the story is to make yourself a little more independent of the CA budget. Raise your fees. Raise your rates. And not just your parking rates. Make outside contracts that make sense. Stop giving away everything you produce for free.

Students will still come to your college. All the UC’s and most of the CSUs are over-enrolled. A fee increase won’t change this. People will still come. In fact, if you charged more for Berkeley and UCLA, people would still go there. A fee increase makes students cry because they have to pay more. Ok. But they should consider this an investment. So they need to invest a little more, and they will eventually get more out of the experience.