Funding

Average Support Cost per Fulltime Equivalent Student and Sources of Funds

The total support cost per fulltime equivalent student includes the expenditures for current operations, including payments made to students in the form of financial aid, and all fully reimbursed programs contained in state appropriations. The average support cost is determined by dividing the total cost by the number of fulltime equivalent students (FTES). The total CSU 2011-12 budget amounts were $2,141,273,000 from state General Fund (GF) appropriations (not including capital outlay funding) and before minus $38.5 million CalPERS retirement adjustment, $1,530,946,000 from  tuition fee revenue net of financial aid (forgone revenue), and $340,440,000 from other fee revenues for a total of $4,012,659,000. The number of 2011-12 budgeted FTES is 331,716 resident and 13,572 non-resident students. The GF appropriation is applicable to resident students only whereas fee revenues are collected from resident and nonresident students. FTES is determined by dividing the total academic student load by 15 units per term (the figure used here to define a fulltime student's academic load).

The 2011-12 average support cost per FTES based on GF appropriation and net tuition fee revenue only is $10,889 and when including all sources as indicated below is $11,875. Of this amount, the average net tuition fee revenue and other income per FTES is $5,420, which includes all fee revenue in the CSU Operating Fund (e.g. tuition fees, application fees, and other campus mandatory fees). 

*Represents state GF appropriation in the Budget Act of 2011-12; GF is divisible by resident students only (331,317 FTES).

**Represents CSU Operating Fund, Tuition Fee and other fees revenue amounts (net of foregone revenue) submitted in campus 2011-12 final budgets. Revenues are divisible by resident and nonresident students (345,288 FTES).

The average CSU 2011-12 academic year, resident, undergraduate student basic tuition fee and other mandatory fees required to apply to, enroll in, or attend the university is $6,519 ($5472 tuition fee plus $1047 average campus-based fees). However, the costs paid by individual students will vary depending on campus, program, and whether a student is part-time, full-time, resident, or nonresident.