2:45pm | The Board of Trustees for the California State University system today approved a five-percent fee increase on undergraduate and graduate students the latest in a series of tuition increases to cope with shrinking budgets.

Yearly tuition will be raised by $204 beginning next fall, bringing the total tuition amount for an undergraduate student at one of the 23 CSU campuses to $4,230 per year. Graduate students’ tuition will bump to $5,214.

Obviously, one of the schools most affected by the decision will be California State University Long Beach, the largest of the CSU campuses by student population. CSULB faced major budget difficulties last year and was forced to cut enrollment and implement furlough days. Of course, those decisions hurt the students more than anyone else. Today, they took another hit.

The CSU board has taken considerable heat over the past year due to its continued efforts to raise student tuitions, but after the State budget slashed $584 million from its overall budget last year – with deeper cuts expected in this current budget process – the CSU system has had its hands tied.

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