Monday, January 30, 2012

Taking Students Dreams Away



There have been many budget cuts made to the schools of California, the issue is that some affect the future professionals of the state. The colleges of California have taken a direct hit leaving many students will lost hopes. There have been many budget cuts to applied to California state Northridge. Students have continually protested the ever increasing cuts made to education. CSUN students have protested through the "Students Occupy LA," movement, they have marched, and have done sit-ins. Even though many students have voiced their opinions there are still many issues. Budget cuts have taken away classes that students need to graduate. According to the July 3rd, 2009 edition of the Daily Sundail; the CSUN newspaper; the classes that many students needed to graduate simply disappeared. The cause of the vanishing classes was due to the proposed budget cuts totaling almost $600 million for the CSU system. At that time, July 3rd, 2009; the California Faculty Association meeting members mentioned a 30 to 40 percent cut in fall courses. According to the Daily Sundail there was a women studying, many assumed she was a student at CSUN, the truth was she was a student from Brandeis University, a prestigious private school in Boston. The argument is that  state universities offer a better price for an education to mostly local students, but they are benefiting someone who doesn't even attend a CSU, and let alone a school in California. According to the August 25th news article of 2009 of "Daily News Los Angeles," California State University has slashed enrollment and have increased tuition and fees by 20 percent, to $4,861 per year. This was done so to close a $584 million funding gap. In addition, CSUN's budget was cut by $41 million for the academic year of 2009, this meant larger classes and fewer part-time teachers. I understand that these numbers are from 2009, now how about the 32 percent tuition hike of May 10th, 2011 that took place according to a news article from KPBS.  As is said in the May 10th, 2011 news article, the California State University was considering a $1 billion contingency plan of cuts that would increase tuition up to 32 percent and shut down enrollment for thousands of students. At that time universities had prepared for double the cuts because of the state's failure, at that time, to extend state taxes. Students were wait-listed and the tuition for a full-time undergraduate student, at that time, was planned to increase to about $6,500 per year. Another news article posted by "Huff Post Los Angeles: The Internet Newspaper," a demonstration took place on the CSUN campus. Students protested tuition and fee increases.  Many students cannot afford to pay more and many cannot see the end in sight. This year (2012) subsidized loans will no longer be offered, students will be forced to get private loans. Since the school system cannot afford to keep so many students, many students will be "kicked out."  Those are just issues that are present while students are in school, yet many graduate after 4 to 6 years and look for a job in their field and find nothing. Then they are forced to return to school for another 2 to 3 years more for graduate school. That means more time, more money, and less time to get started with their lives.  Overall the news is very troubling, due to the fact that I have a subsidized loan, and I am a freshmen in college. If the situation continues to get worst then the future education of I, and the many other students will be greatly affected. I will be obligated to obtain a private loan, and be indebted for the next 4 to 7 years.  
Just SM:)E