Thursday in Hartford, the Board of Regents voted in approval for a 5% tuition increase for students within the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system.
“I’m extremely disappointed. Who are they leading, and what are they leading us into, more debt?” CCSU senior Cat Proper said.
Beginning in the 2024-25 academic year, students at state universities will see an average increase of $334 a year in tuition, while students attending state colleges will see tuition increase by an average of $216.
“We believe members of the board are in a difficult position. They’re doing the best they can but the budget that was passed by Governor Lamont had them hamstrung. Even though they are asking for more money from Governor Lamont, they’re not asking for enough,” 4Cs Union President Seth Freeman said.
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Members of the board said this increase would create an additional $20 million in revenue next academic year to help close the gap on a projected $140 million deficit.
“There are all kinds of reasons for the deficit. The state I think will be looking at trying to help us in the future, but they changed the way fringe benefits are paid which is a real additional cost of I believe $80 million to us,” Board of Regents member Richard J. Balducci said.
Board members also cited declining enrollment in the CSCU system, and subsequently less tuition revenue as contributing reasons for the deficit.
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“We get our revenue from essentially two sources, from the state and from the students and as Chair Balducci said, when the state makes different decisions about our funding, we have little choice but to go to the other source,” CSCU CFO Dr. Lloyd Blanchard said.
In response to Thursday’s vote, Julia Bergman, chief spokesperson for the governor, said:
“Under Governor Lamont, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system has received historic levels of state funding. The federal COVID relief funding provided in recent years to the system was always intended to be one-time in nature. We continue to work with the CSCU system to both identify savings and ways to attract additional students.”
Several students and faculty of the CSCU system remain skeptical about the state’s professional growth.
“This whole idea of bringing younger people into Connecticut and making Connecticut a place where people want to start families, I don’t really see that happening here,” SCSU senior Lydia Sekscenski said.
“These are students who are going to stay in Connecticut, who are going to work here, who contribute to their communities already, and we need to invest in that future. We can’t be short sighted,” CCSU Professor of Sociology Fiona Pearson said.
