California State Universities may be rolling out the welcome mat for 30,000 transfer students during their 2011 winter and spring sessions, but they’re picking our pockets as we walk through the door.

A 15 percent fee hike is no way to encourage students to pursue a degree at a four-year university, nor is it any way to solve all the school’s budget problems.

If CSUs plan on winning our support, they need to prove they’re acting in the best interest of California’s students, and future workforce.

After approving a similar fee increase last year, which was meant to alleviate the same pressure all 23 campuses are experiencing to “sustain enrollment, classes and services for current students” this year,  the CSU system put in effect a furlough system.

Asking employees to work while not getting paid might have saved their jobs, but it didn’t help their students.

“Professors would come to work, but students would not be able to access them because they would take their days off randomly,” Paola Plaza, CSULB student recalls.

Not only were professors difficult to access, but buildings would remain open, even when they were not occupied.

“Why not close down the whole school and save money on electricity, water bills and other things not in use?” she asked.

If the CSU system was unable to use its budget to the benefit of its students in the past, it needs to make a step toward transparency to make sure it doesn’t repeat the same mistake.

When students are asked to pay more for their own good, they should receive an exact outline as to how the money will be spent.

A press release claiming that California’s public universities are among the most affordable in the country holds no importance when half of its students are left to consider moving as an option to balance the cost of living and the cost of a higher education.