Cuts made, fees raised

Kat Mabry/ Roundup

California Community College students registering for fall semester will see a significant change in their tuition as a result of a $10 per unit fee increase.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed bills Thursday, March 24 that cut billions in California’s budget directly effecting the California Community College District; raising fees from $26 a unit to $36.

Not all students on campus were aware of the change in fees that will be affecting them directly.

“It’s crazy, I had to quit my job because it didn’t pay enough for my education,” said Noe Gomez Jr., 19, art major.

Gomez receives no financial aid and is still currently unemployed.

“There’s so many other ways to tax people, why choose education,” said Gomez.

Brown and state legislators cut $400 million from the community college system overall.

These cuts have forced students on campus to explore other options in order to fund their education.

Brittney Pasion-Perez, 22, child development major received a fee waiver from the Board of Governors for spring semester.

“I’m transferring next semester,” said Pasion-Perez after learning of the fee increase. “A couple years ago I would have been outraged.”

Pasion-Perez plans to transfer to CSU Los Angeles.

“With the prices of education I’m facing, I’m going to pay $5,000 for 12 units. I wish I was paying $36,” said Pasion-Perez.

The last time community college students saw a fee increase was in 2009, when Gov. Schwarzenegger signed bills raising the per-unit fee from $20 to $26.

In the past, students attending California Community Colleges did experience a time when postsecondary education was accessible, meaning free, to everyone.

In 1960, California Gov. Edmund G. Brown signed a ‘Master Plan for Higher Education.’ The bill committed to ensuring higher education as a major state priority and granted “tuition-free” education, according to the University of California’s office of the president.

The first bill seen that did not contain a tuition-free clause came in Sept. 1983, according to archives of the Los Angeles Times.

A random poll was conducted among students around campus and the results were as follows:

• 83% aware of budget cuts

• 61% registered to vote