A new bill may help middle-income students pay for the cost of tuition.
The bill, proposed by Assembly Speaker John Perez, grants middle-income Cal State University students $4,000 a year, or $16,000 during a four-year time span, in state tuition subsidies.
The bill defines middle-income students as those who are part of a household that earns more than $70,000 but less than $150,000. Students who are part of a household that earns more than $70,000 are not eligible for most state subsidies.
Gregory Washington, a student at Cal State Fullerton and president of the California State Student Association (CSSA) is a supporter of this bill.
“This bill addresses a huge issue, which is that students are constantly priced out of higher education,” Washington said. “These are the students that don’t have access to financial aid programs … like lower income students do. So this is a bill that would exponentially help students in the CSUs.”
But as great as the bill sounds, it doesn’t have a good chance of clearing Republican lawmakers in the California Legislature.
Perez plans to fund the bill by closing $1 billion in tax loopholes for out of state corporations — something California Republicans blocked last year.
A two-thirds vote in the California Legislature is required to increase taxes.
“It’s always the middle class thatthat gets squeezed as legislative Democrats continue to prioritize welfare programs and public employee salaries and pensions,” Senate Republican leader Bob Huff said in a statement.
“Let’s first enact the governor’s pension reforms and balance the state budget then we can better assess the need for changes in tax policy and higher education,” he continued.
Still, many students are supportive of an idea that helps them pay for soaring tuition costs.
Ana Robles, a communicative disorders major at Cal State Long Beach who also considers herself a middle-class student, said she definitely has trouble paying for school.
“I can either pay for tuition and then I struggle with books, or I struggle with tuition and I’ll be okay with books, so it’s one or the other,” Robles said.
According to the CSU, there are still ways students can get help with paying for tuition.
“Over the last decade in particular, we’ve seen the state cut back year after year, which means that students are asked to carry a heavier burden,” said Erik Fallis, a CSU spokesman.
But Fallis also said that financial aid has been increasing over the years to help students cover their tuition.
“We actually manage to provide about half of our students with enough financial aid to fully cover the cost of their tuition,” Fallis said. “As tuition rises, so have the Cal Grants and the state university grants.”
