Amid protests Wednesday, the California State University system’s governing board voted 11-8 to raise tuition at its 23 campuses – the first raise in six years.

Tuition will increase by $270 per year for in-state students beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, up from the current rate of $5, 472 for undergraduate students, which “will generate $77.5 million in net revenue for student success initiatives,” according to a CSU press release.

Timothy White, CSU chancellor, said in a statement that he had no desire to request the increase, but that the funding is required to sustain and ensure a quality education.

“Today’s vote by the California State University Board of Trustees to increase student tuition will unfortunately only increase student debt and make it more difficult for California’s students to graduate from college debt-free,” said 7th District Assemblyman Kevin McCarty in a press release following the vote.

The CSU system released a statement on their website that said: “The tuition increase allows the CSU to recruit more faculty, hire more advisors and add more classes. The proposal also increases the CSU’s commitment to its State University Grants so that students who receive these grants are not adversely affected by any change.”

The CSU website claims that “more than 60 percent of CSU undergraduate students who meet financial aid eligibility will continue to have their tuition, and any increase, fully covered by state waivers, Cal Grants and the CSU’s State University Grant.”

Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, representing the 65th District, sent a letter backed by 25 signatures of members in the California Legislature urging the Board of Trustees to reconsider increasing tuition for the 2017-2018 academic year.

In the letter, Quirk-Silva asks the Board of Trustees members to “reconsider the way in which we fund higher education, because high tuition costs constrict access to our institutions of higher education, and deny students and their families the dream of obtaining a degree.”