Judge: Summer school fee hikes OK at CSU schools

Since the Cal State system is a public institution, required courses normally are subsidized with state funds to keep prices down.

CSU spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp said budget cuts have prompted 21 campuses to have students bear the expense of offering summer sessions. The alternative would be canceling summer school or taking money earmarked for the fall to underwrite the summer program, Uhlenkamp said.

"We decided to allocate resources toward the fall, when there are more students taking the classes,” he said.

Uhlenkamp said the change affects only students taking seven or more units over the summer, who will pay a maximum per-unit surcharge of $80. Only 2 percent of students usually carry such a heavy academic load over the summer, he said.

The lawsuit argued that making summer classes more expensive than those offered the rest of the year and moving from a subsidized to self-supported fee structure violated California law.

But Judge Roesch said "he could not demand institutions to continue to provide state-supported summer sessions without more funding,” Uhlenkamp said.

Anne Arkush, a San Francisco lawyer who represented the students, said no decision has been made on appealing Tuesday’s ruling.

"Cal State’s purpose is to provide subsidized education, and to shift the burden to the students, to require them to pay the full cost of providing the courses, just undermines that,” Arkush said.