SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California State University panel on Tuesday approved a plan to raise tuition by 5 percent next year if voters reject Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative and trigger a $250 million funding cut to the 23-campus system.
The CSU board of trustees' finance committee voted for the "contingency strategy" to manage the potential failure of Proposition 30. Meeting in Long Beach, the full board was expected to approve the measure Wednesday.
The Nov. 6 ballot initiative would temporarily boost the state sales and income taxes to help close California's ongoing budget deficit and avoid deeper cuts to K-12 schools and colleges.
Under the resolution, CSU would raise tuition for the winter and spring 2013 terms if the tax measure fails in November. Tuition for in-state undergraduates would rise to $3,135 per semester or $6,270 per year. The tuition increase would generate $116 million per year.
CSU would also increase the supplemental tuition paid by out-of-state students by 7 percent, or $810 per year, to $11,970 per year starting in fall 2013. That move would generate an expected $9 million per year.
Under the measure approved Tuesday, if Proposition 30 passes, CSU would rescind a previously approved 9 percent tuition increase that went into effect this fall. Annual tuition would fall to $5,472.
If CSU freezes tuition this year, the system would receive an additional $125 million in state funding in 2013-14 — if Proposition 30 passes — under legislation Gov. Brown signed as part of his 2012-13 budget.
The committee voted to postpone until November a decision to impose new fees on students who repeat courses, take more than 16 units in a semester or have earned more than 150 units.
The proposed fees, which would go into effect in fall 2013 regardless of whether Proposition 30 passes, are aimed at increasing student access to courses and reducing the time it takes to graduate.