California State University students increasingly face a harsh truth: even if tuition is low, the cost of staying in school remains high. Against the backdrop of a new system-wide economic report and federal policy shifts, many CSUSB students are paying more than meets the eye.
According to the system-wide Economic Impact Report published by the California State University (CSU) system, tuition remains comparatively low for full-time undergraduates, on average across all CSU schools, just $6,084 per year in 2025-26, and more than 60 percent of undergrads pay no tuition because grants and waivers cover it. The report also boasts that 63 percent of graduates finish college debt-free and average debt among those who borrow is about $17,346. On the first read, this is a strong narrative: low tuition, many students with no debt, and a system helping first-generation and Pell Grant-eligible students succeed, but a closer reading shows the gaps that fall on the shoulders of students to manage.
The report reveals student spending on housing, food, transportation and books totals nearly $7.9 billion a year across the CSU system. That number is not framed as a student hardship, but as an economic benefit to regional industries. Yet for students living paycheck to paycheck, those dollars often represent rising rent costs, food insecurity, hours worked off campus in low-wage jobs, and stress that can derail an academic career.
At CSUSB and other campuses, many who qualify for Pell Grants or are first-generation college students live in off-campus apartments where rents have surged. They commute long distances because cheaper housing options lie in more remote cities. They balance full-time enrollment with part-time or even full-time jobs just to make ends meet. For them, “affordable tuition” is only part of the cost equation. What the CSU report does not show, but what students feel, is the toll of basic-needs instability.
Housing insecurity and food insecurity are especially acute for students whose access to grants and waivers covers tuition but not rent or groceries. When a student misses rent or drops a class because they couldn’t afford the textbook, the promise of upward mobility is compromised.
Compounding the local pressures is a federal policy shift under the Trump administration that threatens to raise the stakes further. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education announced that several degrees previously considered “professional”, such as nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant, and social work programs, will no longer qualify for certain higher federal loan limits and forgiveness protections. As one report put it, nursing programs are “excluded” from the definition of “professional degree” under the new rule, a change scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026. This means students in those fields may face higher costs or fewer funding options. The change affects programs dominated by first-generation and low-income students, which only deepens the affordability crisis.
In addition, the Trump administration has pursued drastic rewrites of federal student-aid programs, attempted to dismantle the federal Department of Education itself, and signaled a retreat from the idea of federal support as a backbone of higher-ed access. That means fewer safeguards for students who rely on federal assistance, and more risk that hidden costs will become barriers.
California has a chance to serve as a counterweight. The CSU system’s strategic plan names “sustainable affordability” as a goal but achieving it will require more than rhetoric. It will require increased state investment to offset the rising cost of living for students, especially in regions like the Inland Empire where housing and transportation costs continue climbing.
For CSUSB students this could mean: more emergency housing funds, expanded food pantry access, rent-assistance programs, on-campus affordable housing, transportation subsidies, and programs targeted specifically at Pell Grant recipients and first-generation students. It means viewing grants and no-tuition pledges not as endpoints but as baseline support.
It also means state leadership must remain vigilant. If the California Legislature and governor see the CSU system as simply holding steady, without additional funding, the pressures will shift onto students. Tuition may stay stable, but fees, living costs and “success” fees may rise. Students will still absorb the burden.
For the CSUSB student body, the takeaway is clear: affordability is not just what you see on a bill. It is what you don’t see, rising rent costs, nights working instead of studying, skipped meals, outdated or second-hand textbooks, the stress that eats at your ability to focus on your education. The CSU economic report tells one story. The lived experience at campus tells another.
If California wants to live up to the idea that public higher education is a public good, it must invest accordingly. Not just in classrooms and faculty. Not just in enrollment and degrees. But in the human infrastructure that allows students to persist, graduate and thrive. That means funding the unseen costs. That means acknowledging housing and food insecurity as part of the affordability equation. That means standing up to federal policy changes that make access harder for students already carrying the load.
In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised rising support for higher education, committing to nearly $2 billion in new funding across the UC and CSU systems. Last year, however, the state cut a combined $200 million from those same systems, with the likelihood of more cuts in the future. If California, now the fourth-largest economy in the world, cannot allocate the resources to help its students succeed, how can students be expected to survive an increasingly difficult path to earning a degree?
CSUSB students, you are part of this. Your stories matter. Your struggles matter. The numbers in a report matter. The nights you stayed awake juggling jobs and classes, the days you wondered if you could afford gas to commute. The semester you delayed graduation because you needed to work extra hours. These are the cracks in the “affordable tuition” narrative.
Let’s keep the conversation going. Let’s demand that affordability means more than low tuition. Let’s demand support that covers rent, food, books, and the hidden costs of education, and not just in terms of allowing us to get into more debt, but rather, real support for these costs. We must hold state leadership accountable when they claim a system is affordable but leave out the costliest parts of staying in school.
