This article is from Cal-Tax Digest, published
by the California Taxpayers' Association.
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The College Board just released its latest report on the cost of higher education, which on average rose by about 5 percent nationwide. I'm proud to report by comparison that there is good news here in California, where California State University fees were cut by 5 percent. The bad news is that readers of such reports tend to focus too much on institutions whose four-year tuition total is now more than $100,000. At the CSU, which produces nearly half of all the bachelor's degrees in the state, the cost is less than $2,000 annually in fees each year.

That focus on the other institutions can be misleading and discouraging to students and parents seeking to improve their lives through higher education - especially those without enough information about available opportunities. That's unfortunate because no asset is more valuable to a person individually or a citizenry collectively than accessible, affordable, high-quality education. Those high tuition figures apply mostly to traditionally higher-priced private Eastern institutions. Four out of five undergraduates in the United States attend public institutions where tuition is much lower.

The California State University is one of the best bargains in the country, with fees about 80 percent lower than comparable institutions. On average CSU students pay less than $8,000 in fees over four years.

It is actually the state that invests the most in our students, and thus, in California's future. It costs the CSU about $10,000 a year to educate a student. So, CSU students, who pay less than one-fifth of the total cost of their education through their fees, get a high-quality education for a relatively small investment, while the state gets a well-prepared work force.

At the CSU, we continually seek ways to maximize our resources. Over the past two years, we were able to rechannel $34.1 million away from administrative costs and toward educational services for students through increased productivity. The CSU also has improved its fund-raising efforts, increasing voluntary support by more than 75 percent over the past six years. Last year, total external funding exceeded $579 million, more than the total revenue from student fees.

By maximizing our resources, we help keep cost low and maintain access financially, but today's students are quite different from students a decade or two ago. A quarter of our students have dependents, and 70 percent have jobs in addition to attending the CSU. For many, it's difficult for them to attend the CSU at traditional times through traditional means. We have to make adjustments to meet the needs of students and offer more convenient instruction. That means offering more courses at night and on weekends, shifting to year-round operations, and expanding our distance education courses so students can continue their education when their schedules allow.

By controlling costs and adapting course scheduling, we can provide educational opportunities to qualified students. However, maintaining access without assuring a high-quality education does no good for our students or our state, but to do both takes an investment of resources. Quality education at the CSU means maintaining small class sizes and increasing student access to top faculty, modern technology and exciting applied research opportunities.

By working together with students and their parents, the state and CSU can keep costs low, quality high and opportunities plentiful. This commitment to both access and quality will allow many students the opportunity to improve their and their families' quality of life, and will ensure that the state is taking advantage of its most valuable resource - its people. California will continue to invest for the future.