Sacramento State is proposing a tuition increase of more than $1,000 for the next three semesters, drawing sharp criticism from students who attended hearings between August 12 and 15.

The updated fee proposals come at a time when tuition across the CSU system is set to rise 34% over the next five years. The tuition increase prompted protest marches to the office of Sac State President Luke Wood in April.

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Many of the fee increases have not been adjusted for years, including the fee for class-related activities, which has remained unchanged for 31 years. The proposals say some services will not be able to meet the demands of a growing campus population.

The five proposals for fee increases

Student Health Services Fee: Last updated in 2010. Students paid $152 for health, wellness, and mental health services for the 2024–25 academic year.
Option One: Increase the fee to $203 by 2027-28.
Option Two: 212 USD by 2027-28.

Class-Related Activity Fee: The $8 IRA fee has remained unchanged since 1993. Sac State proposes an increase to $310 in the 2025-26 academic year, with a cost-of-living adjustment after 2028.

Recreational Sports Fee: Set at $19 with an annual increase of 3 percent.
Option One: Increase the fee to $60 by 2027-28.
Option Two: Increase the fee to $90 by 2027-28.

College Athletics and Spirit Fee: The existing $181 primarily supports Sac State’s athletic programs and funds scholarships, travel, coaching staff and equipment.
Option One: Increase the fee to $206 in the 2025–26 academic year, with proposed annual cost-of-living adjustment.
Option Two: Increase the fee to $256 per year, with proposed annual cost-of-living adjustment.

Nonresident fee: New and largest single fee in the proposals, designed to fund improved services and work opportunities for out-of-state and international students. The $500 fee would be imposed beginning in the 2025-26 academic year.

“A tuition increase will never be popular,” Wood said. “When I was a student here, I staunchly opposed every single fee that was proposed.”
On the other side of the debate are President Wood and a team of faculty members. They held hearings to explain the need for increased fees and give students the opportunity to voice feedback and possible objections.

“The key point was to make sure we were able to properly communicate with students who were looking for colleges in high school,” Wood said. “We wanted to make sure we could be transparent and honest with them about the costs.”
Wood said he has received more than three times as much feedback from students on these fees as in previous hearings, but he remains open to further feedback as the fall semester approaches.

Jeanne Harris Van Dahlen, senior associate vice president for student health, counseling and wellness services, highlighted mental health services as an area that needs improvement.
“If you need to see a doctor, a nurse or a psychiatrist, you should be able to come in and see them the same day,” Van Dahlen said.
College and recreational sports could also benefit from the proposed fee increases, as the additional funds can be used to maintain existing facilities and equipment, saving costs for individual students.

Carl Reed, senior assistant athletic director for facilities, operations and capital projects at Sac State, spoke in favor of increasing college athletic and spirit fees.
Reed said the fee will lead to new scholarship opportunities, catch up on years of deferred maintenance on facilities around campus and improve venues like Hornet Stadium for non-athletic purposes.

Athletic director Mark Orr said Thursday that the hope behind the proposals is to allow more students access to these facilities while addressing safety concerns.
“The sports proposals will benefit all students who use these fields on our campus,” Orr said. “Frankly, the fields we provide to them are not up to date from an athletic perspective.”

One of the most controversial proposed fees is the $500 nonresident fee, which accounts for half of all proposed fee increases. Shiva Pillai, director of the Office of Institutional Research, Effectiveness and Planning, described the fee as an investment in services necessary for a growing number of out-of-state and international students, who are expected to make up as much as 10% of Sac State’s student body over the next eight years.

Despite the promised new services, Shachee Baraiya, an Indian student majoring in management information systems and business analytics, believes the new fee would not be enough.
“We are already paying such high fees, almost $10,000 just for 12 units,” Baraiya said. “First, focus on how to improve existing services before introducing a new one.”
Even after efforts to highlight the benefits of all proposed fees, support for the increases was relatively low.

Many students voiced criticism of the fee increases and concerns about the additional financial burden. President Wood was also not immune to direct criticism after he left the town hall meeting on August 15 after his opening speech.

“President Wood is the one making this decision, right? Where is he?” asked William Robey, a third-year anthropology major. “If he really cared about the students’ opinions, he would have done so during the current semester.”

Jamarie Crawford, an incoming freshman political science major for the fall 2024 semester, was concerned about the increased fees and planned tuition increases.

“I can’t rely on FAFSA anymore, considering all the other factors that contribute to making college more expensive,” Crawford said. “I don’t have a job right now, so I’m looking for one on campus right now.”

Molly Mellon, a third-year political science and journalism student, said the new fees would make it harder for cash-strapped students to pay for on-campus housing and other expenses.
“Part of what they want to do is focus on improving the culture at Sac State,” Mellon said. “But many of our students can’t focus on culture because they’re so busy thinking about where they’re going to get their next meal, whether they have housing, how they’re going to get to school.”

Eliana Foster, an English student, left the town hall meeting on August 13 unconvinced by the presentations.

“Why didn’t you consider how the total amount of all the fees would affect your students?” Foster asked. “Not one person answered my question. I don’t think a $60 fee is that much, but it’s not just the $60, it’s the $60 on top of the $500 on top of the $300 on top of the other $100.”

If the Student Fee Advisory Committee recommends the introduction of the new fees, 80% of the proposed increases would be felt as early as the 2025/26 academic year.