By Katherine Valadez |Opinions Editor|

When I heard about the 17-unit cap that will be placed on enrollment at CSUSB next fall, my heart sank.

I’ll be a senior next quarter, and in order to graduate on time without going to summer school I’ll need to take the extra units. But in order to take more units I’ll have to pay extra money on top of tuition.

As it stands, I can’t afford to pay tuition without additional help. There is no way I’ll be able to graduate in spring if every quarter I have to pay an additional $700 to take that extra four unit class along with the rising tuition costs.

The idea behind this change is that the cap will mean more students will be able to enroll in courses that normally wouldn’t have been open.

But I think this unit cap will mean that students looking to graduate on time will have to work even harder to do so.

I always felt that if I’m going to pay a lot in tuition, I should take as many classes as possible so I can get my money’s worth and make sure I’m getting closer to graduation.

But this 17-unit mandate means that taking five four-unit classes each quarter won’t translate into getting more bang for my buck since I’ll have to pay extra.

I think it’s unfair to place this cap on registration. Students are already having a tough time making it to graduation, and this will just make a bad situation worse.

What is so frustrating to me is that I feel like I’m going to have to pay more for less. I have to pay more in tuition, but take fewer units.

We can now expect that tuition will rise every year like it has the last few years. Do we now have to expect that every quarter we will be allowed to take fewer units than the last quarter?

Although this cap is “temporary”, how long will that be? This cap could be just for Fall 2012, or it could last for many quarters.

For me, graduating on time is now even more important because it ensures that I won’t have to be subjected to more tuition and fee increases. But this change might mean I have to stay here for additional quarter or more  in order to complete my degree.

From what I’ve encountered, taking 16 units every quarter seems to be the average. But if you’re thinking about taking that extra class to clear a pre-requisite or adding an internship, good luck.

You will now have to petition to take extra units and cross your fingers that your request is granted so that you don’t have to pay the extra $700.

In my mind, there has to be another option instead of capping units. The CSU system is already limiting enrollment and raising tuition, do they have to force us to take fewer classes too?