A handful of California State Universities will share a $12.2 million federal funding pot, the system announced on Monday, March 11, to support various projects on those campuses.
The money was included in a congressionally directed “minibus” funding package for the 2024 fiscal year, the announcement said, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Friday, March 8.
The bulk of the funding, $5 million, will go to Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gateway Bridge project — a planned pedestrian bridge that will span a busy campus crossing at Nutwood and Chapman Avenues.
Another $3.4 million will be used to fund capital improvements to Cal State Long Beach’s Child Development Center, the announcement said, which provides affordable child care for students who are also parents.
California State University Northridge get two separate grants totaling just over $1.9 million, the announcement said, split into two equal halves for different programs.
The first $963,000 will support CSUN’s research in aquaculture — or the controlled cultivation of various ocean organisms and plants — including work to develop sustainable seaweed.
The other chunk of money will support the university’s Strength United Domestic Violence Community Policing and Advocacy project, which provides a variety of social services to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
Cal State San Bernardino will also get a $963,000 funding pot for tis Tech and Workforce Hub Project; and San Diego State University will get the same amount for a transmission electron telescope.
The additional federal funding grants are a welcome sight for the CSU system, which is currently grappling with a $1.5 billion funding gap.
A previous CSU report said the system only has enough money to pay for about 85% of the actual costs of education, institutional and academic support, and student services at all of its campuses.
“This visionary funding package is a wonderful example of how, with the support of our California congressional delegation,” CSU Chancellor Mildred García said in the announcement, “we can develop innovative and effective programs that benefit not only our students, but also our campus communities and our state.”
The CSU Board of Trustees recently OK’d 6% annual tuition hikes over the next five years, a move the 23-campus system says is necessary to stabilize its budget over the coming years.
The tuition increases are anticipated to raise about $280 million in new revenue over the next five years, the CSU said previously.
Building congressional support for the CSU is among the system’s top priorities, the announcement said, in order to help its campuses secure additional federal funding — and help close the gap in its operating budget — over the coming years.
“We are grateful and deeply appreciative of the trust these members of congress place in the CSU,” García continued, “as well as their partnership in helping advance our mission of elevating lives through the transformative power of higher education.”