(KRON) — Today, the California State University Board of Trustees unanimously voted to increase the tuition by 6 percent each academic year until the end of the decade. 

According to CSU, the initiative is “a multi-year revenue sustainability plan for systemwide tuition, nonresident tuition, and the graduate business professional program fee.” CSU is adamant that the plan will “provide necessary resources for each university, provide tuition stability and predictability for students and parents, and enhance financial aid and affordability for those students with the greatest financial need.”

The tuition rate increase will span five academic years from 2024-25 to 2028-29. At the end of the 2029 academic year, tuition rates will be held at the 2028-29 rate until the Board decides to raise or decrease rates beyond that academic year.

CSU states the tuition increase will bring in additional resources to “continue to provide its students with an accessible, high-quality education.” This includes tutoring, peer mentoring, academic support, cultural centers (space, staffing and programming), Title IX efforts to include bystander and prevention education, increasing the number of students participating in high-impact practices such as undergraduate research, international experiences and internships, early alert systems and case management efforts to support student retention and persistence, increased efforts to re-engage and re-enroll students who have dropped out of college, and on-campus student employment opportunities.

According to the California Department of Education, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond did not support the tuition increase and believed it would place an unnecessary financial burden on students.

“As a state, we should be investing in our students, not placing financial roadblocks in the way of aspiring teachers, school counselors, and the next generation of workers and leaders,” said Thurmond.

The California Faculty Association believes CSU’s tuition increase is to “the collective detriment” of the students and demonstrates how “out of touch” the administrators and trustees are. 

“The hike compounds and amounts to a 34 percent increase by the 2028-29 school year. This misguided and ill-informed idea will price out current and potential students – especially those who identify as Black, brown, immigrant, low-income, and/or first-generation college students,” said the CFA.“Public higher education shouldn’t be a debt sentence. CSU trustees shouldn’t be pushing the burden of their financial mismanagement onto the backs of students.”