SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Some Sacramento State students will be protesting tuition hikes on Wednesday.
Students for Quality Education (SQE) said it's organizing a protest at 11:45 a.m. against the planned increase. The tuition increase will go into effect next semester, starting in the fall 2024 term.
Annual tuition for full-time California undergraduate students will increase by $342 in the fall to $6,084, according to California State Univeristy. For the 2025-2026 academic year, tuition will increase to $6,450.
By the 2028-2029 school year, those students will be paying $7,682.
"This move may disproportionately impact many current and future Sacramento residents," SQE said in a statement.
CSU’s chief financial officer warned the board at a September 2023 meeting if they rejected the five-year deal it would force the 23 campuses in the CSU system to lay off thousands of professors and cancel classes.
The five years of the tuition increase are set to generate $860 million in revenue. Of those funds, $280 million will be committed to financial aid, school officials said.
Tuition fees aren't the only thing students have to pay to attend Sacramento State. In addition to tuition, students have to pay mandatory campus fees, which are $967 per semester for the 2024-2025 academic year. The campus fees go toward the Associate Students Inc. programs, transportation, recreational sports, health facilities and more.
Sacramento State released a statement in response to the planned protest.
"Sacramento State supports free speech and students’ right to peaceful protest on campus. Sac State remains prepared for individuals and groups to exercise their rights to free speech. When the California State University trustees voted in September 2023 to increase tuition, Sacramento State President Luke Wood identified ways to mitigate potential barriers for our students to ensure they can attend, succeed, and graduate. We continue to focus on what we can do at the campus level to improve academic support, ensure full utilization of financial aid and scholarships, help our students graduate in a timely manner, and enhance their opportunities to succeed after graduating," Sacramento State said in a statement to ABC10.
Find a breakdown of the tuition increase schedule from California State Univeristy HERE.
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