Rising tuition costs push for state ballot initiative

Spencer Marshak
CSU Stanislaus The Signal
Mar 12, 2008

So what do you get when a couple of California college students are sick of rising tuition costs within the University of California and California State University systems? Why a ballot initiative of course.

A growing political movement is moving across the state, and it goes by the name of Tuition Relief Now.

TRN is a student-run organization made up of volunteers from more than 30 campuses across the state.

TRN is proposing the College Affordability Act of 2008. The act, if passed, would freeze tuition rates for UCs and CSUs at their current levels for five years beginning in 2009.

Tuition rates have risen 96 percent in the past six years, far exceeding the national inflation levels, and essentially doubling what college students are paying now when compared to what college students were paying in 2001.

To make up for any potential lost revenue, the College Affordability Act would place a 1 percent tax increase on all Californians who make more than $1 million annually.

The act would also establish that any future increases in tuition may not exceed inflation levels. Finally, the act would create an Accountability Panel, made up of students and parents, which would oversee the UCs and CSUs and make sure that the new revenues were being spent solely on educating students.

TRN's goal is to get 434,000 signatures by registered California voters before April 17. If it succeeds, the College Affordability Act of 2008 will be placed on the November 2008 ballot, and the people of the state will decide whether or not to pass the proposal.

"This is an organization for students by students," Valeria Fike-Rosales, the Lead Organizer of TRN, said. With very little money on hand, and a purely volunteer work force, Rosales also said, "We have had tremendous success getting the word out about Tuition Relief Now, and we believe that this is an issue that needs to be dealt with."

In just a few months, TRN has created a network of eager volunteers petitioning for signatures in every corner of the state.

"We have had volunteers and supporters ranging from UC and CSU students, to community college students, to parents," said Ami Patel, another lead organizer. "We are really not that surprised that this many people care about the large increase in tuition costs."

Tuition Relief Now does not wish to eliminate tuition costs. In fact, it firmly believes that students should pay their fair share. However, it argues that colleges in California are becoming less affordable by the year, and as tuition costs rise, more and more potential students will be discouraged from attending the state's public four year universities.

The state of California is not helping this problem either. In 1977, about 17 percent of the general state fund was spent on higher education. Today, that figure has dropped to 11 percent, and when one considers that California is the fifth largest economy in the world, that is millions upon millions of dollars that used to be going towards universities that are now being spent elsewhere.

TRN's Web site at www.tuitionreliefnow.org has petition that can be downloaded, printed out and signed, and then sent in to its headquarters.