Cal State OKs Tuition Payment Plan

In a sign of the times, students throughout the 20-campus Cal State system will soon be able to pay their fees on an installment plan, one response to the national problem of escalating college costs.

Payments in two or three installments will have to be completed before the end of each semester or quarter according to a new plan approved Tuesday by a Cal State Board of Trustees committee, which met in Long Beach. Traditionally, most money has been due in full before classes start.

On some campuses, the new payment schedule can be used as soon as the upcoming winter quarter or spring semester, with participating students required to pay an extra administrative fee of $22 per quarter or $33 per semester.

Anne Blackshaw, legislative advocate of the Cal State Student Assn., said many of the system’s 340,000 students will use the installments because of sharply rising fees. “It will give them a little more leeway in paying their bills,” she said.

With a 40% increase this year, basic Cal State student fees average $1,308 annually, excluding room and board. The fees are likely to be even higher next year as the state budget crisis continues and students are forced to bear more of the costs.

Foreign students, who pay much higher fees and constitute only about 2% of the student body, have long been allowed to pay their Cal State tuition on the installment plan.