[ Golden Gater Online - September 16, 1997 ]
A move to freeze California State University student fees until the year 2000 came one step closer to reality Sept. 5 as the state Senate Appropriations Committee passed the College Affordability Act of 1997.
Assembly Bill 1318, sponsored by Assemblywoman Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego) and Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis, still needs to pass the state Senate and be approved by Gov. Pete Wilson to become law.
If enacted, the College Affordability Act would hold resident student fees constant at all CSU and community college campuses through June 2000, but would apply to the UC system only with the UC Regents' approval. The bill would not apply to nonresident student fees.
"(This) action not only ensures that student fees will be frozen for the rest of the century, but it also lays the groundwork for developing a long-term, predictable and stable fee policy," Ducheny said in a statement.
But a long-term policy on student fees appears elusive. The appropriations committee insisted upon removing a provision which would have linked any future increase in student fees to an increase in California's per-capita income.
The committee also eliminated language which would have required the state Legislature to consider increases in CSU, UC, and community college enrollment when allocating state funds for college education.
The vote by the Senate committee came on the heels of a budget committee vote to reject a proposal by Wilson which would have raised fees 10 percent.
CSU student fees have remained constant since 1994, after a series of increases more than doubled fees between 1990 and 1994. During the last few years, a "buyout" agreement between Wilson and the trustees and chancellors of California universities have kept fees from rising. But in late July, Wilson threatened to back out of the agreement, prompting a seven-day student demonstration in Sacramento.
"We saw significant enrollment drops as a result of the astronomical fee hikes of the early to mid-'90s," Davis said in a statement. "AB 1318 guarantees this will not happen again for the remainder of the decade."