ESM’s Billy Downing will be on the air Friday morning. This live interview will air on KCRA 3 News at approximately 7:45am on My58 Network. Just an FYI-it is not on Channel 3, it is Ch 58. Refer to provider’s channel guide for My 58. Downing will be discussing recent tuition hikes at CSU schools and what parents and families can do to face these new realities!

CSU Asks State to Restore $471 Million in 2012-2013 Budget

CSU proposes 9 percent fee increase

By Lisa M. Krieger San Jose Mercury News

Updated: 11/15/2011 06:45:59 AM PST

In a move that would almost quadruple the cost of attending college in just over a decade, California State University trustees will decide Wednesday whether to hike next fall’s undergraduate tuition by 9 percent unless the state gives the system more money.

It would be the ninth fee increase in nine years for the nation’s largest university system, which says fee increases are the only way to keep up with rising enrollment and declining state support.

“Our options are severely limited,” CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said in a Monday morning briefing with reporters. “The state needs to step up and assume its historic role as the primary funder of the university.” A $498 increase in 2012-13 fees would come on top of a 12 percent hike in fees this fall, a 9 percent increase in 2010, and a 32 percent increase in 2009.

The proposal, to be considered at a Wednesday meeting of the CSU board in Long Beach, would bring total university fees to $5,970 for full-time undergraduate students. When campus fees are included, the total cost rises to more than $7,000 — and that doesn’t include books, room and board.

Ten years ago, annual tuition was about $1,600.

San Jose State student Marisela Chavez, 21, said that her father, a gardener and landscaper in Napa, took on extra jobs to pay for her education. She is the first member of her family to attend college.

“He added some yards so he can help,” said Chavez, a junior. “The $500

To save money, Chavez shares a bedroom in her San Jose apartment. She also baby-sits in her free time.

Next year, “I was hoping to get a part-time job that would only require me to work about 15 hours a week,” she said, “but with this increase, I’m going to have to make sure I get a job and hopefully be able to work about 20 hours a week, on top of school and organizations.”

The increase would be canceled if state lawmakers next year provide CSU $138 million more than it received in the current budget.

“When dealing with the state budget, all things are possible,” CSU assistant Vice Chancellor for Budget Robert Turnage said.

This year’s operating budget for CSU is the same as it was in 1998 — but the university has 70,000 more students, he said.

This year’s budget was cut by $650 million — and it could be cut by an additional $100 million next month if the state’s midyear budget projections are not met, which appears likely. If $750 million is cut, CSU would be left with a budget that is only three-quarters the size of last year’s budget.

Meanwhile, enrollment is growing: Next year, an additional 20,000 students are expected to enroll in CSU, a five percent increase over this year’s enrollment of 365,000 full-time undergraduates. That is the result of new initiatives that ease transfer from community colleges.

“There is pent-up demand,” said Turnage.

The officials said the new money is essential to maintain the quality of a Cal State education and would allow campuses to add classes, boosting graduation rates.

CSU is not alone in its budget woes. Across the country, states’ support of higher education has sunk to the lowest level recorded in more than 30 years, according to a recent report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, which tracks and reports these trends in annual financial reports.

Reed and Turnage assert that CSU fees remain competitive with other states’ university systems, and that the university offers many financial aid options.

The proposed fee hike comes at a time when faculty are planning a two-campus strike on Thursday to protest wage issues and Reed’s leadership.

Nov 15 From Capitol Public Radio:

Lawmakers gave the university quite the budget cut this year - $650 million.  That led to an extra tuition increase.  So in lobbying for next year’s budget, Chancellor Charlie Reed is taking a “carrot-and-stick” approach.  The stick comes this week, when trustees vote on a nine percent tuition increase for next fall.  But Reed’s also dangling that carrot:

Reed: “We won’t have to increase tuition for the fall if the state provides adequate funding in next year’s budget.”

He’s asking the state to “buy out” that increase by restoring $138 million.

Meantime, it looks like this year’s budget could give the C-S-U another $100 million “trigger” cut because state revenues are coming in well below projections.  If so, Reed says the university will pretty much empty its reserves to avoid raising fees mid-year.

SAT reading scores for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record, and combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point since 1995.

The College Board, which released the scores Wednesday, said the results reflect the record size and diversity of the pool of test-takers. As more students aim for college and take the exam, it tends to drag down average scores.

Meanwhile, other tests taken by more representative groups of high school students have shown reading skills holding steadier. And in the context of the 800-point test, the three-point decline in reading scores to 497 may seem little more than a blip.

Still, it’s just the second time in the last two decades reading scores have fallen as much in a single year. And reading scores are now notably lower than as recently as 2005, when the average was 508.

Average math scores for the class of 2011 fell one point to 514 and scores on the critical reading section fell two points to 489.

College Board officials pointed to a range of indicators that the test-taking pool has expanded, particularly among Hispanics, which is a good sign that more students are aspiring to college. For instance, roughly 27 percent of the 1.65 million test-takers last year came from a home where English was not the only language, up from 19 percent just a decade ago.

But the increasingly diverse group of test-takers is clearly having more trouble with reading and writing than with math. Wayne Camara, College Board vice president of research, said recent curriculum reforms that pushed math instruction may be coming at the expense of reading and writing — especially in an era when students are reading less and less at home.

“We’re looking and wondering if (more) efforts in English and reading and writing would benefit” students, Camara said.

Gary Phillips, chief scientist at the American Institutes of Research, cautioned against using SAT scores as a way to measure national performance.

Overall on reading, “I think we’re treading water in the long-run,” Phillips said, citing other tests like the National Assessment of Educational Progress. “In the short run, we’ve had a few blips in a couple directions. Based on the international comparisons, however, we’re still not doing all that well.”

Bob Schaeffer, public education director of the group Fair Test, a longtime critic of the SAT, found unpersuasive the College Board’s explanation that the declines were due largely to a broadening test pool. In 2003, he said, the number of SAT-takers expanded by a greater percentage than last year, but scores that year rose 6 points on math and reading.

“Yes, changing test-taker demographics matter,” he said. “No, they don’t explain a 18-point drop (in combined scores) over five years.”

The College Board, a membership organization that owns the exam and promotes college access, also released its first “College and Career Benchmark” report, which it said would eventually be used to give states and school districts better data on how ready their students are for college. Based on research at 100 colleges, the College Board calculated that scoring 1550 or above on the three sections of the test indicated a 65-percent likelihood of attaining at least a B-minus average in the freshman year of college.

Overall, 43 percent of test-takers reached that benchmark. The College Board emphasized the tool is for policymakers, and shouldn’t be used by college admissions officers to evaluate individual candidates.

The main message from the College Board was the importance of a rigorous curriculum, which is a strong and perhaps growing predictor of SAT scores.

For instance, nearly one in five students takes less than four years of high school English. That’s about the same percentage as a decade ago, but it now makes a much bigger difference on SAT scores: The reading scores of those students have fallen from 500 to 462. Students who took AP and honors classes, meanwhile, score significantly higher across the board.

A decline in average scores isn’t necessarily good news for top students who were applying to competitive colleges. The number of high scores is also increasing. For instance, the number of students with math scores of at least 700 is up 22 percent since 2007.

The SAT and rival ACT exam are taken by roughly the same number of students each year. Most colleges require scores from at least one of the exams but will consider either. In recent years, some colleges have adopted test-optional policies allowing applicants to decline to submit test scores at all.

The College Board, which charges $49 this year for the test, has faced criticism from some educators over fees. This year it says it had responded to the weak economy with more financial aid, granting 350,000 students fee waivers, an increase of 77 percent in the last four years.

___

Justin Pope covers higher education for the AP. You can reach him at twitter.com/jnn_pope97

I am excited to share with you that Harry Kisker, ESM’s Director of College Counseling from San Francisco will be speaking at Larkspur Landing Marriott Hotel on Thursday, September 15th at 7:00PM.  Harry has been in college counseling for 40 years and is one of the region’s most sought after experts in admissions counseling. This will be his only speaking engagement in the North Bay Area until next fall.

Come by to hear Harry’s perspective on what colleges are doing to evaluate the growing piles of applicants, how our students can better prepare for SAT/ACTs and most importantly his thoughts on how to find the right fit college for your student.

Please register at www.esmevents.com.  As always, there is no charge for this event.

I hope that you each can come to meet Harry and learn a bit more from his very entertaining workshop.

Regards,

Billy Downing

Founder & CEO