(After a recent Patch article about , San Leandro resident Angela Marrujo joined a discussion on our Facebook page. It led her to write this lightly edited first person account of what she and her college-educated peers can anticipate.)
I'm not really sure where to begin, but I guess I'll just describe my experience at San Francisco State University so far.
I graduated from San Leandro High in 2009 and am currently a Junior and in my third year at San Francsico State University.
In my first semester, getting classes wasn't too difficult, and I was able to immediately start getting my general education requirements out of the way.
I was, however, surprised by how expensive tuition was, and disappointed that when I got back the results of my Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). I was told that my parents made too much for me to qualify for grants.
The one loan I qualified for and accepted didn't even fully cover the cost of tuition and I had to come up with $600 out of pocket to pay it off. I then had to take out a second loan to be able to continue to afford to go to school.
I am currently relying on a subsidized and unsubsidized government loan to go to school, and owe SFSU about $18,000.
The cost of attendance isn't just in the tuition. Books are outrageously priced for college students and unjustifiably so in my opinion.
Last semester I spent over $500 in books. This semester I spent around $300, and previous semesters books have ranged between $300 to $400.
What's worse is that when you go back to the SFSU bookstore to sell your books at the end of the semester, you're given a fraction of what you paid for them. Last semester's return was the worst: I got about $60 dollars back from a $500 investment. That's a little more than 10% back from what I shelled out.
Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for any little bit to help, but come on!
Tuition has risen substantially due to all of the fee hikes the state has imposed on Univeristy of California and California State University campuses.
Usually at the beginning of my semester when my tuition is paid for, I'll get a check from SFSU for the extra balance of my loans that wasn't needed, and I'll use that money to pay for my books.
Each year the remaining amount I get back continues to shrink as the cost of tuition and fees go up and I worry that it's going to reach a point where my loans won't cover the costs anymore. I'm already being supported by two loans, I don't want to take out a third. That would be ridiculous.
I work part-time which helps a bit. I make about $300 to $400 dollars a month if I'm lucky. I commute to school daily on BART, which is $9 a day, five days a week. That's roughly $180 dollars a month on commuting alone.
Eve so, I'm lucky to live at home, which cuts down on what I'd be spending on rent, food, utilities and etcetera if I were living alone or with roommates
The budget cuts on CSU and UC schools have affected how many classes are available for enrollment every semester. Classes needed to satisfy GE requirements are snatched up instantly during registration times, and classes needed for your major are always in high demand: whether or not you get into them has turned into a matter of chance.
This in turn causes you to have to wait until the next semester to take what you need which in turn extends the amount of time needed to complete your degree. The longer it takes the more you owe in tuition.
It's a vicious cycle that seems never ending and it's frustrating when SFSU says you need certain classes to graduate and they don't have the resources to provide enough of them.
That's a sample of what my experience has been so far with college and SFSU.
I'm sure there's more I could say, I just didn't want to overwhelm you with too much info
But anyway, the class situation could be fixed if the UC system stopped hiring so much deadwood administrative staff (again, now up to a ratio of 1 staff: 1 teaching person) and instead hired actual teaching staff. Given the huge number of unemployed and unemployable liberal arts grads, I'm sure they could hire some good lecturers for half the price of some "diversicrat" holed up in some useless office.
I work not only nights on weekends, but nights (including shifts starting at midnight), days, and all day and through the evening on weekends. I'm a low-level supervisor at my job, and take all the shifts assigned to me and whatever shifts open up that I can work around with my school schedule. What is frustrating is that despite how many hours I work and however much I make, I wouldn't be able to afford school without these loans. Many of my peers are in the same situation. The cost of a college education shouldn't be as much as it is, because it used to be feasible to at least afford the bulk of one's tuition while working during school. I know that times have changed and so many things have increased in price throughout the decades, but this is one thing that shouldn't be so prohibitively expensive.
report to chancellors and take direction from their chancellor. UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau and UC Davis Chancellor are in derelection of their duties. UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau and UC Davis Chancellor need to quit or be fired for permitting the brutal outrage on students protesting tuition increases and student debt Opinions? Email the UC Board of Regents marsha.kelman@ucop.edu
Fire, retire Cal Chancellor Birgeneau.