CSU tuition hike vote sparks protests

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Trustees with the Cal State University system on Wednesday will vote on whether to increase tuition; the proposal calls for a 6% hike every year, until the end of this decade. 

The outcome of the vote will affect students across all the CSU campuses by next fall.

The proposal sparked protests in in Long Beach, where the trustees are voting, and other campuses as well. 

CSU's chancellor says they haven't increased tuition in more than a decade.

They need the tuition hike in order to pay professors and educators more.

The CSU system also has a $1.5 billion budget gap.

Here's a look at the proposal:

The roughly 460,000 undergraduate students would be paying about 6% more each year in tuition. That works out to about $340 to $400 per student, per year.

By the year 2029, CSU tuition would be 33 percent more expensive, than it is now.

"Trustees in Long Beach need to come up with other ways to come up with money," said San Jose State Dept. of Justice Studies professor said. 

And Bella, a San Jose State student, said the proposed hikes is causing her a "lot of stress. It takes a lot of energy to be here, especially if they come from harder backgrounds."

CUS professors are at an impasse in their contract negotiations with the university.

Even so, they oppose the tuition hikes and say the university system has money in reserves and should use that to pay them higher salaries.

CSU administrators say 60% of students who get financial aid and grants would not see their tuition go up. But hat means the other 40%, or more than 200,000 students, would bear the burden.