Cal State faculty, students protest proposed cuts in budget, admissions

Roberto Aguilar figures he has done everything right to earn a spot at a state college, working hard in high school to achieve a 3.5 GPA and SAT score of 1780. But the Pasadena 17-year-old's vision of the future -- moving away from home, meeting new friends in the dorms and exploring a new city -- is in jeopardy because of the state's budget woes.

"My chances of getting in have just gotten slimmer," said the senior at Marshall Fundamental High School, who applied to study civil engineering at Cal State campuses in Northridge, Long Beach and San Diego, as well as UC Davis. "I might have to go to my backup, backup plan now, and go to community college. I'm worried."

Officials at the California State University system announced Monday that for the first time in its history, they are proposing to turn away qualified students because of a deepening state budget crisis.

As part of a plan to slash its 450,000 enrollment by 10,000 students for the 2009-10 academic year, the 23-campus system, the nation's largest, will push up application deadlines and raise the academic bar for freshmen at its most popular campuses.

State legislators are dealing with a budget shortfall that could grow to $24 billion by the middle of 2010. To help cover the gap, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has recommended a $66-million midyear cut for the Cal State system, which has been hit with a series of rolling budget reductions since 2002.

Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed said he has not ruled out fee increases even though the Board of Trustees is not currently considering that option.

At Cal State headquarters in Long Beach on Tuesday, students, faculty members and staff staged a rally protesting proposed cuts in the system's budget and enrollment. Several hundred participants waved signs and shouted, "Save our education!"

Speakers described a budget-strapped system that is already in disarray, with students being forced to stand or perch on window sills in stuffed classrooms, and unable to graduate because classes have been dropped or severely curtailed.

"In our school right now, you can't start an art program because the art department stopped Drawing I, and it's required," said Sonoma State freshman Kia Kolderup-Lane, a liberal studies-political science double major who is interning for the California Faculty Assn. "It's like cutting the head off a snake. It doesn't work."