CSU trustees asked to hike tuition 12 percent: Fall tuition break $5,000 mark

California State University has not wasted any time responding to the budget Gov. Jerry Brown signed today, which cuts CSU funding by at least $650 million for the coming school year.

Chancellor Charles Reed announced this afternoon that he will ask trustees to vote on a 12 percent tuition increase when they meet on July 12. The increase would be effective this fall, and comes on top of a 10 percent increase that trustees approved last year -- also to take effect this fall.

If trustees approve the newest increase, annual undergraduate tuition at the 23 CSU campuses will be $5,178 this fall -- or $948 more than it was in fall 2010.

"What was once unprecedented has unfortunately become normal, as for the second time in three years the CSU will be cut by well over $500 million," Reed said in a statement. "The magnitude of this cut, compounded with the uncertainty of the final amount of the reduction, will have negative impacts on the CSU long after this upcoming fiscal year has come and gone."

The budget Brown signed calls for cutting CSU and the University of California each by another $100 million if revenue expectations are not met by December.

Read more at Capitol Alert

Gavin Newsom suggests challenging Jerry Brown's UC cuts

Will Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom be the advocate he is for the CSU system as well? CSU funding will certainly be a hot topic this year. From the Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert:

In his first remarks at a University of California Board of Regents meeting this morning, Lt. Gov. and Regent Gavin Newsom proposed challenging half a billion dollars in cuts to the UC system proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Newsom said the regents shouldn't automatically accept the cuts and said, "I'm not convinced we're going to lose that half a billion dollars."

The remark suggested Newsom won't hew tightly to the Brown administration line as lieutenant governor, despite coming from the same party and sharing longtime family ties. Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, had expressed some concern about Brown's proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies on Jan. 10, just minutes after taking the oath of office.

Wednesday's remarks at the Board of Regents meeting, however, reflected a stronger tone from Newsom. The lieutenant governor's office comes with a Board of Regents seat.