Many students are unhappy. They are frustrated that the cost of going to a university in California is going up. Some of the students are protesting.
One woman is very upset. She does not think students should have to pay more money. She said that the university passed an agreement to increase tuition. She said that under the new agreement fees will continue to rise until 2011.
The vote by the California State University board includes 23 college campuses. The cost for going to a university has increased by 76 percent over the last four years. Increasing the cost to go to a university will make it too hard for some students to stay in school.
One student said that he thinks the fee increases are going to force many people out of school. He explained that it is already difficult to pay for food, bills, and housing. "You know the stories about eating a lot of Top Ramen? Sometimes that's true. You've got to make do with what you've got," he said.
A spokesman from the University system said that they do not want to raise student fees. The system has had $500 million in state funding cut over the last ten years. They need to raise fees so they will have more money to pay for their costs. He also said that one big cost is the salary increase for faculty and staff administration.
Administrators are saying that the increase in student fees helps to pay for teacher salaries. Instructors say that is not true. They say that the law states that teacher salaries can not come from student fees. The instructors say that their salary increases are not the reason that student fees have been raised. That would be against the law.
Right now students pay about $3,300 a year for tuition. The increase will raise tuition to about $3,550 in September 2007. Students want the cost of education to be lowered. They believe that it should be affordable.