With all the news of UCLA,  UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz student protests, it’s easy to forget  that UC students aren’t the only ones suffering as a result of the  budget failure. One may recall the break-out of protests on a number  of University of California campuses around Thursday, November 19, when  it was officially  announced that UC students would be forced to pay an additional 32%  fee hike, on top  of current fees. A UC education is no joke, and is no cheap thing, these  days, Then again, neither is a California State University education.

With hundreds of arrests and  potential arrests on UC campuses, much attention was shifted from the  future of CSU campus offerings to the future of UC offerings and the  affordability of a world-class education. (Technically, the UC and CSU  systems are not allowed to charge “tuition,” but instead charge  heightened and equivalent miscellaneous fees.) While clemency has been  granted to some of the UC protestors, the same cannot be said for some  CSU offerings, which are on the chopping block as we speak. Even the  flagship of the California State University, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,  is not immune to huge budgetary cuts. All  CSU campuses faced  a $564 million total budget shortfall this year, and began to answer  that monumental debt by increasing  undergraduate fees by $672 and $828 for graduate students, in addition to another $306  student fee put into place the previous spring. All teaching staff members  were also directed to take furlough days twice per month, to help stave  off disaster. For many CSU students, this has had a significant impact:  this means less face time with professors, but the same amount of knowledge  is expected to be learned. Another unpopular step in addressing the  CSU budget is the plan to cut enrollment by 40,000 over the next two  academic years. This translates to 40,000 fewer students gaining admittance  to the CSU campus of their choice after high school, which could translate  to greater pressure on the beleaguered community college system, or  simply fewer students going directly to a college of any sort. (Not  to mention that this figure represents about 10% of all CSU students!)

The CSU system is the largest college system in the  state and the nation, serving about 450,000 students per year. It is  the “gateway institution for the great majority of students seeking  a baccalaureate education in California,” according to the CSU website.

While the more glamorous UC  research institutions are covered in the news, it is vital not to forget  about the 23-campus CSU system, which is the unsung hero of the state.  A fee increase of 32% has been seen as highly unfair by many UC students,  but CSU students (and campuses) have been suffering as well. While UC  campuses are not yet in danger of having their programs shut down, top-notch  universities such as Cal Poly are in danger of having excellent programs  cut.