California State University trustees today voted to increase undergraduate student fees by $276 per year as a means of combatting the much-lamented state slashing of public-education funding.

The fee hike will bring in about $110 million in revenue, according to the Office of the Chancellor. Some cash will be set aside in the form of financial aid to offset the increase for the lowest-income students.

A few grafs from the flackage:

"Although the state has not yet adopted next year's budget, the CSU is increasing fees now in order to provide students enrolled for the fall a reasonable amount of time to plan their finances," said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. "Students and their families need to know what the fees will be so that they can appropriately plan for next year's college costs.

"In addition, it is critical for the university to set fees in order to put together student financial aid packages, and to meet federal and state financial aid deadlines."

The CSU Trustees voted 15 to 3 in favor of the fee increase. Trustees John Garamendi, Melinda Guzman, and the student trustee, Jennifer Reimer cast the dissenting votes.

State University Fees for undergraduate, graduate, and teacher credential students increased by 10 percent.

Effective in fall 2008, fees will increase by $276 for undergraduate students, $324 for teacher credential students and $342 for graduate students."

The California Faculty Association immediately released a statement saying the price bump "could not come at a worse time for struggling California families" and asserting that the "most effective form of financial aid for California would be to fully
fund the CSU budget to help reverse the current economic downturn for all
the citizens of the state."