The Case for Increasing College-Based Fees
at Cal Poly

Why Another Fee Increase?

Over the last several years, Cal Poly has experienced funding shortfalls that equate to approximately $25 million. An increase in the college-based fee would help us to minimize the negative impacts of budget reductions and keep our learn-by-doing emphasis strong.  

How Have We Handled Recent Budget Cuts?

·         Faculty and staff reductions.

·         Dropped low enrollment courses.

·         Reduced travel and supply budgets.

·         Replaced State funds with gift and/or College-Based Fee funds.

How Do Cal Poly Fees Compare With Other Public University Fees?

Please see the tables below.

What Is The Proposed Fee Increase?

Increase the college-based fee to $362 per quarter for all full-time students ($181 per quarter for part-time students) effective Fall 2009.  Fee would be increased by an additional $100 per quarter for all full-time students ($50 per quarter for part-time students) effective Fall 2010 and another $100 per quarter for all full-time students ($50 per quarter for part-time students) effective Fall 2011.

How Will New Fee Revenues Be Distributed?

In CAFES, the Dean will retain new college-based fee revenues equal to any State budget cut to the College. The remainder of new college-based fees will be distributed to CAFES departments per FTES headcount. Ongoing college-based fee revenues will be allocated as before: 10% holdback by Dean for College-wide priorities, balance distributed per headcount to departments.

Benefits Of The Fee Increase

Student learning and success are the original and continuing purposes of Cal Poly’s college-based fee and the exclusive motivations for the proposed increase.  Examples of opportunities that will be made possible with the fee include:

• Scheduling of classes needed to promote timely progress to graduation.
• Increased graduation rates with less time to graduation.
• Quality degree programs with uncommon learn by doing opportunities that characterize a Cal Poly education.
• Increased recruitment and retention of faculty members and corresponding student access to the faculty.
• Student-faculty research collaborations and project-based learning.
• Acquisition of sophisticated equipment and instrumentation.

New Plan To Eliminate Barriers To Timely Graduation

Cal Poly is committed to a plan that will allow students entering in Fall 2009 to graduate in 4 or 5 years (depending on their degree program) by ensuring that courses are offered that will assist students’ progress to degree.  Students will however need to commit to following their curriculum requirements and completing courses successfully. If followed, this approach will reduce the time to graduation for most students, resulting in significant educational cost savings.

Impacts Of Not Raising The College-Based Fee

·         Loss of faculty positions – primarily lecturers.

·         Reduction in course offerings.

·         Reduction of student enterprise projects (e.g. jam, chocolate, livestock enterprises, etc.).

·         Loss of Teacher-in-Residence Program (Agricultural Education & Communication dept).

·         Reduction of general operation expenses – travel, supplies, etc.

Student Input Opportunities

·         University Open Forums.

·         CAFES Dean’s Open Forums.

·         Dean’s meeting with Ag Council students.

·         Department consultations with student clubs and College-Based Fee committees.

·         University and CAFES websites – go live Feb. 9.

·         March 11 & 12 student vote via Cal Poly Portal.

·         38% student turnout required.

If The Fee Increase Passes…

The colleges and administrative areas will need to continue to operate with reduced costs since the revenue from the fee increase will not completely restore the shortfalls or fund the loss of spending power due to inflation.  

Recommendations on how new College-Based Fee revenues are to be allocated within each department/college will continue to be sought via the same student fee committee process as currently used.

Comparison of Public University Fees

Over the last several years, Cal Poly has experienced funding shortfalls that equate to approximately $25 million. An increase in the college-based fee would help us to minimize the negative impact that the budget reductions have had.   An additional measure we’ve looked at to determine the proposed fee increase level is that of fees/tuition at other universities similar to Cal Poly.  We often compare Cal Poly to campuses within the University of California system, e.g. U.C., Irvine - $7,556, U.C., Santa Cruz - $8,286, U.C. Santa Barbara - $8,573,  U.C., Davis - $8,635, and U.C., San Diego - $8,911.

When comparing Cal Poly’s current fees with the Public “Tech” Colleges group as defined by U.S. News & World Report, excluding other CSU campuses, Cal Poly’s undergraduate fees are $1,864 below the average and $7,339 below the high of $12,382.

Comparison of Public University Fees

When comparing Cal Poly’s current undergraduate fees with the comparison group used by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), excluding other CSU campuses, Cal Poly’s undergraduate fees of $5,043 are $2,894 below the high of $7,937 and $682 below the average of $5,725.

An increase in the college-based fee will put each academic unit in a better position to continue its academic distinction and thereby contribute to the growing national reputation of Cal Poly and the enduring value of a Cal Poly diploma.

Student Fee Committees