Calif. university considers forcing students to pay to hire new faculty

Fee could cost students “between $200 to $500 per semester.”

The school’s Campus Fee Advisory Committee say it’s necessary because of a reduction in state support.

San Diego State University (SDSU) is considering a proposal which would require its students to pay up to $500 per semester to hire new faculty.

The school will host 28 forums to ask students for their input on instituting what it calls a “Student Success Fee” to hire tenure-track faculty, according to an article published Wednesday on KPBS.org, San Diego’s public news outlet.

The Campus Fee Advisory Committee (CFAC) has claimed the school will consider feedback from the forums, but SDSU President Elliot Hirshman will make the final decision.

The exact amount of the proposed increase would be somewhere “between $200 to $500 per semester,” which would be phased in over a four-year period beginning in fall 2014, according to a guide prepared by CFAC.

The proposal is in response to what CFAC calls “severe reductions in state-support (sic) for SDSU,” stating that the $140 million funding boost that Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed for the California State University System next year will not be enough to cover costs.

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