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Students & Future California Workforce Impacted by Budget

The Governor's release of the 2008-09 budget could greatly affect future students of the California State University (CSU) and subsequently the state's workforce in key high-demand industries. In order to begin to bridge the $14 billion state budget deficit, the Governor has proposed a cut of $312.9 million from the CSU. In addition, $73.2 million in General Fund revenue that is needed to buy out a student fee increase was not included in the Governor's proposed budget. Thus, the CSU budget is short of full compact funding by $386 million; without these funds, it will be required to raise fees and make other serious reductions.

The proposed budget released by the Governor on January 10th does not include necessary funding to cover an increase in enrollment of 2.5 percent. This means that 10,000 qualified students will not have the opportunity to attend a CSU. This funding reduction comes three years after the CSU budget was reduced by more than $500 million in budget cuts early this decade, and has serious implications for providing an educated workforce that drive the California economy.

As the major supplier of graduates into the state's workforce, budget cuts to the CSU will affect key industries in California. With nearly 90,000 students leaving the university each year and going in to key areas such as nursing, teaching, agriculture, business, public administration and technology, adequate state funding is critical.

Not only could these cuts affect the future workforce and state economy, the proposed cuts will impact long term prospects of increasing college-going rates of underserved communities in California. The CSU has experienced an increase in enrollment of first-time freshmen from underserved communities over the past few years as a result of its partnerships with K-12 and community-based organizations. The pipeline of students in K-12 is two-thirds students of color; it is critical to the state's future that more students from underserved communities attend college.

The CSU will be working with the Legislature over the next few months to try and restore this funding because without it the immediate impact on student access and the future impact on key industries throughout the state could be unprecedented.

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