Under intense pressure not to raise tuition for the second consecutive year, California's public university systems have delayed votes to increase student fees and turned their attention back to the Capitol to lobby the state for more money.
Hundreds of California State University students and faculty, joined by Chancellor Timothy White, rallied in Sacramento on Wednesday, calling on Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers to cover the cost of an anticipated 4 percent tuition hike in the forthcoming state budget. University of California students, facing a possible fee increase of nearly 3 percent next year, visited the Capitol last week.
Legislative leaders are supportive of their efforts. Both Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon spoke at Wednesday's rally...
Brown has made it clear he's not interested in either raising fees or giving UC and CSU more than the 3 percent boosts to their state funding, roughly $92 million each, that he proposed in January. At a press conference, he said the universities would simply have to lower their cost structures and "live within their means."
"You’re getting 3 percent more and that’s it," Brown said. "They’re not going to get any more. They’ve got to manage. I think they need a little more scrutiny over how they’re spending things."
His office confirmed Wednesday that his position has not changed. Brown has also threatened that future budget increases could be smaller if the UC and CSU hike tuition, because more money set aside for higher education will have to go to the Cal Grant financial aid program rather than the universities directly...
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