The Board of Governors have unveiled their early tuition proposal for CSU in the next academic year. Unfortunately, this plan includes a 4% increase in tuition costs for students in state, and a 5% increase for out-of-state students. The increase would largely result in additional faculty pay. 

While paying faculty more is a cause that virtually all students would support, students are already forced to carry the burden of inflated tuition costs. Currently, for the 2022-2023 academic year, in-state undergraduate tuition at Colorado State University (CSU) is $12,874. This is 40.8 percent higher than the state average for public 4-year universities ($9,144) and 37.7 percent higher than the national average ($9,349). Out-of-state undergraduate tuition at CSU is $32,734, which is 8.6 percent higher than the state average for public 4-year universities ($30,140) and 24.1 percent higher than the national average ($26,382). 1

Since the 1990s, the average cost of tuition and fees have increased 130% after adjusting for inflation nationwide. 2 In fact, students are paying more for a degree that possesses less value than it did in the 90s. 3  Forcing students to pay more for an increasingly devaluing service will only further the inaccessibility of higher education for working to middle class families. 

The CSU system received over $200 million dollars in 2015 for the construction of the Spur Campus in Denver from the Colorado State Legislature. 4 Funds to pay faculty higher wages exist outside of a tuition increase. 

Signing this petition is not a statement that one disagrees with paying faculty more, but rather an effort to ensure that tuition cost remains at its current level. The signers of this petition urge the Board of Governors to craft and adopt a plan that achieves these goals without inflicting more undue financial burdens upon students. 

Nicholas DeSalvo- ASCSU Speaker of the Senate

Sources:

1. Hanson, Melanie. “Average In-State vs. Out-of-State Tuition” EducationData.org, April 28, 2022, https://educationdata.org/average-in-state-vs-out-of-state-tuition 
2. Hanson, Melanie. “Average Cost of College by Year” EducationData.org, January 9, 2022, https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college-by-year
3. Clark, Peter. “Why College Degrees Are Losing Their Value: Peter Clark.” FEE Freeman Article, Foundation for Economic Education, 19 Dec. 2021,
4. “FAQ: CSU Spur at the National Western Center.” CSU Spur , Colorado State UniversitySystem. https://csuspur.org/faq/#:~:text=How%20was%20CSU%20Spur's%20construction,Vida%20and%20Terra%20and%20Hydro