Members of Students for Quality Education gathered at Malcolm X Plaza this afternoon to inform students about the three new proposed fees from the California State University Board of Trustees.
The fees will be discussed at the Board of Trustees meeting Nov. 13-14 in Long Beach. These fees include a course repeat fee, which would penalize students an additional $100 per semester per unit to repeat a course and would prohibit that student from enrolling in more than 15 units for that term. Another fee, the third-tier fee, would charge students $200 per unit who enroll in more than 16 units. Lastly, the graduation incentive fee, would make students pay $372 per unit for every unit above 150 units.
The fees were proposed by Chancellor Charles B. Reed because he believes “students are gaming and abusing the system.,” according to SQE’s press release. The fees are proposed without regard to the passing of Proposition 30.
“They’re changing student behavior,” SQE spokeswoman Marcela Pimentel, said. “They want you to graduate at their pace.”
SQE gave students the opportunity to take a survey to discuss how these new fees will affect them and will pass along these surveys to the Board of Trustees. Students also wrote personal messages on paper, which will be placed all over campus. SQE also invited students to play the game, “Rack Up Your Debt,” where students throw bean bags into holes with a designated new fee and the point of the game is “everyone is screwed.” Students also made T-shirts with spray painted phrases like “Stop the Fees,” “I Want to Graduate,” “I Give a Shit” and San Francisco Giant’s Sergio Romo’s shirt from the World Series Victory Parade last Wednesday, “I Just Look Illegal.”
Sociology major, Cynthia Cardenas, 19, joined SQE because one of her classes required it and she is passionate about the topic at hand.
“With these fee raises it’s going to to be harder for me to get classes,” Cardenas said. “It’s already expensive to live on campus and with these fees, I wouldn’t be able to live on campus anymore.”
A volunteer of SQE, kinesiology major, Grant Tuttle, and a U.S. Veteran, and these fees will force him to take too many classes.
“I only have four years of federal funding,” Tuttle said. “These fees force me to take over 16 units.”
In this case, Tuttle would be forced to pay an extra $100 per unit.
