Things are looking up this year for Chico State.
At today's State of the University Address, President Steve Perez struck an optimistic tone about the school’s future.
“Enrollment is continuing to grow. Our budget is in good shape, but we need to continue the advocacy to make it stay that way,” Perez said to a roomful of enthusiastic staff.
Perez said enrollment has grown consecutively over the last few years. It’s a welcome reversal after steep declines following the 2018 Camp Fire and COVID-19 pandemic.
“What it means is there's more students coming to Chico State that we get to interact with, that we get the privilege of being part of their lives, and that we get to help them turn into what they want to be,” Perez said.
Perez said increased enrollment also bears well for the school’s finances, since more students means more funding from the state.
And money has been extremely tight for the entire CSU system.
Last year, CalMatters reported the system was short $2.3 billion. It’s led to hundreds of degree cuts and hiring freezes. That’s despite tuition increases. It doesn’t help that the state has been consistently chipping away at CSU’s budget.
But Perez said the governor’s proposed budget for the upcoming year would restore some much-needed-funds to the university. He said it shows the governor is recognizing how important higher education is.
“Not only do we not get cut, we got an increase,” Perez said.
CalMatters reports the budget includes $365 million more for the CSU system.
It just has to get through the legislature.
Transparency note: NSPR's broadcast licenses are owned by Chico State. The university does not oversee our news production or programming.
