CSUSB Students Protest 6% Annual Tuition Hike, March on President’s Office

Students at Cal State San Bernardino (CSUSB) protested a six percent tuition hike, approved by the Cal State University (CSU) Board of Trustees, arguing it disproportionately burdens first-generation and students of color. 

Following a 2023 approval, tuition is set to increase six percent every year for the next five years across all CSU campuses to address the $1.5 billion deficit. However, some students and faculty are skeptical of the budget crisis and have challenged the administration to be more transparent and accountable. 

On Tuesday, March 11, Students For Quality Education, a student-led activist group, marched through the rain from the John M. Pfau Library to President Tomas D. Morales’s office to hand-deliver their “Not-So Love Letters for Change,” as they chanted “Tuition hikes have got to go.”

“We’re here to see if President Morales is here, because we would like to deliver him multiple letters of concerns on behalf of students and faculty here at CSUSB,” said strategic communications major Miguel Davalos.

Despite President Morales’s absence, an assistant agreed to schedule an appointment for the students to speak with him and deliver their petition letters.

Afterward, IECN spoke with Students For Quality Education about their concerns. 

“It’s never been more expensive to be a student here, but yet we’re reaping none of the benefits of the increased tuition,” said Julian Olmos, a history student. “This is a four year institution, and only one in four students graduate in four years, and yet the president and the rest of the administration is getting a pay increase, it makes no sense.”

He added that the CSUSB is failing students by reducing class offerings, shortening library hours and cutting Student Services budgets. 

In brief, the students expressed their grievances over student-administration mismatches. 

“Is the school for profit? No, we’re not,” said Angelina Tucci, a political science major. “We’re a public education system. But, you know, all I see is help for the administration and not for the students.”

The students cited Morales’s six figure salary and the bloated administrative body, as examples.

“We’re not against the school. We love the school,” said Rodolfo Carrillo, a double major in art and English. “We’re just against the administration and how they’ve been handling issues.”

According to CSUSB Professor of Communications and Media Studies Thomas Corrigan, the central issue centers on the “so-called budget crises.” 

“We’re told by CSU administrators that we are in a budget crisis,” Corrigan said in an interview.  “At CSU San Bernardino, we like to highlight that it’s a ‘so-called’ budget crisis, because a budget is a plan.”

Corrigan explained that a budget is a way to plan for and address priorities. However, a budget may not accurately reflect real needs and should, when needed, be adjusted. He added that the university has reserve funds to draw from. 

“One thing worth highlighting is that the CSU has billions in reserves and investments,” he said, adding that these reserves are for upcoming projects and “capital investments” that could be used to “deal with the budget crisis.”

“One’s a liquidity portfolio that is supposed to be for the operating needs of the CSU and its campuses,” Corrigan said. “I believe it’s now at somewhere around $2.5 billion . . . that’s the sort of funding that we should be asking: ‘You know what? What is this investment portfolio for, if not to make sure that our campuses are well supported to provide high quality, affordable education.’”

He explained that these “austerity measures” present challenges for students and faculty, claiming the process looks “like death by a thousand cuts,” whereby class offerings dwindle, students don’t graduate on time, and part-time lecturers, “who are disproportionately women and people of color,” teach less and less.  

“I’m happy that our students are out here standing up and pointing out the challenges that they’re confronting and asking to have a seat at the table,” Corrigan said. 

In an email response, CSUSB spokesperson Alan Llavore acknowledged the challenges students may face with the tuition hike. However, he emphasized that financial aid adjustments would offset the costs for many.

“60 percent of all CSU undergraduate students (those with the greatest financial need) will have their tuition fully covered by grants or waivers, and financial aid will be adjusted to cover the additional cost of tuition,” Llavore said. “The other 40 percent of CSU undergraduate students either have their tuition partially covered by grants or waivers or have family incomes greater than $127,000.”

The university defended the increase, citing the need for additional funding to expand academic support, research opportunities, and course availability to help students graduate on time. Additionally, officials pointed to the state budget crisis, noting that the CSU system faces a projected $375 million cut next year. 

“Systemwide, based on the governor’s preliminary spending plan released in January of this year . . . for CSUSB, that means a projected $18 million reduction in support from the state,” Llavore said. 

To mitigate the impact, CSUSB officials say students and faculty are advocating for increased state support, while faculty and staff are working to “maintain program quality despite constrained budgets.”