The Cal State U. will face a $650 million cut in state support if Gov. Jerry Brown signs a budget approved by the Legislature late Monday night — something he expected to do before the new budget year starts Friday.
CSU officials also said there is a “high likelihood” that students will face an increase in tuition this upcoming semester because of the budget reduction, adding that a $150 million cut would translate to a 12 percent increase, or about $500 per year.
The CSU faced a $500 million cut and raised tuition by about 15 percent because of it.
But, the new budget bill, passed by California Democrats, outlines a $650 million reduction in state support.
The bill, which does not include three tax extensions pushed by Brown throughout his time in office, also expects $4 billion in extra revenue — something many are calling optimistic.
“It is a shame that the Legislature was unable to reach a compromise that would have kept taxes at current levels and prevented further massive cuts to the public’s universities,” CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said.
If these hopeful estimates don’t come through for the Legislature, deeper cuts would be triggered automatically.
These include an additional $100 million cut to the CSU system.
“The trigger [cuts] won’t be pulled until classes for our last semester of the fiscal year have already started and it is too late for campuses to respond in any practical way,” Reed said. “This makes it impossible to plan and carry out our mission with any stability.”
Cal State Long Beach Provost Donald Para said that a $650 million reduction in state support would “create a real challenge to provide basic services as far as classes.”
Para also lamented the possibility of the $100 million “trigger cut.”
“You can’t just tell people to get out,” he said.
CSU officials insisted that continued budget reductions would affect the quality of education the university provides.
“We’re not going to mess with quality — we’re going to do everything we can to preserve quality,” said Erik Fallis, CSU media relations specialist.
Fallis said that the university has the option of reducing enrollment or cutting expenses, which may limit the quality of education, but that it would likely stick to a tuition increase — having already cut enrollment.
Fallis also said that the $100 million “trigger cut” would put the university in a very uncomfortable position.
If trigger cuts are implemented, he explained, by then campuses would have already hired lecturers, admitted students and collected tuition.
“It’s boggling what would happen in that case,” he said.
The budget bill also reduces the University of California’s state support by an identical $650 million.
And, if “trigger cuts” are implemented K-12 schools may lose funding equivalent to seven days of instruction.