Undergraduate students at SDSU, Cal State San Marcos and other California State University system schools will be paying an additional $276 in fees next year, CSU trustees decided Wednesday.
Trustees voted 15-3 to raise annual fees 10 percent for the system's 450,000 students. That brings systemwide and campus fees to an average of $3,797 in 2008-09. Graduate students would see a $342 spike, for an average of $4,505 in fees.
Faculty trustee Craig Smith said the state doesn't fully fund the cost of educating each student. “We have no choice but to turn to other streams of revenue,” he said.
Regents for the University of California will vote Thursday for a 7 percent increase in educational fees and a 10 percent increase in the registration fee for 2008-09. That would boost undergraduate costs for California residents by $490 for an average total of $8,007 per year.
In-state graduate fees would rise $546 for an average cost of $10,376 per year.
The figures do not include books, transportation and living expenses that can nearly triple the amount students effectively pay to get a public education in California.
The average tuition at four-year public universities nationwide this academic year is $6,185, a 6.6 percent increase from last year, according to the College Board. In California, the average was $4,971, a 9 percent increase.

Tanya Sierra: (619) 498-6631;
tanya.sierra@uniontrib.com