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Arnold Schwarzenegger: Everybody Contributes, Except Those That Have the Most

Along with our grand opening announcement, we have a new web-exclusive ad focusing on Arnold’s tuition hikes. According to Arnold, California tuition was too low and too many students were attending college. That is blatantly and obviously wrong. Instead of taxing the top 1%, Arnold has gone after the state’s students, raising fees to the point where California students now pay some of the highest fees in the nation.

When Arnold took office, he was facing a problem of his own doing. His no taxes pledge combined with his reversal of the vehicle registration fee (aka “the car tax”) put the state in even worse financial straits than it was facing under the Davis administration. He took a number of steps to temporarily alleviate the pressure on the budget.

1. He borrowed lots of money through bonds. He really seems to enjoy burdening future generations with our expenditures doesn’t he? He’s another of those Bill Our Grandchildren Firsters, just like President Bush.
2. He raided K-12 education. This money has since been paid back, but only under threat of election.
3. He hiked college tuition fees dramatically. This is the one I’m focusing on now.

Arnold hiked college costs as soon as he entered office. Initially, he claimed that he would raise tuition by only 10%. Then it turned out that he meant 10% per year. And finally, it also turns out that he didn’t include graduate education in that 10% proclamation. So all in all the consequences have been pretty bad. How bad? Well, here are some facts with data from 2001-2002 until current:

• The cost of an Associate (2-year) degree has gone up since the 2001-02 school year by nearly $1,000, a 136 percent increase, with more than half of that increase coming from Schwarzenegger.
• The cost of a four-year UC undergraduate degree has gone up by nearly $12,000, a 79 percent increase, with nearly $5,000 coming from Schwarzenegger.
• The cost of a CSU undergraduate degree has gone up by more than $5,000, a 76 percent increase, with nearly $2,000 coming from Schwarzenegger.
• The fee for teacher training at CSU has nearly doubled, from $1,506 to $2,922.

Arnold has been wrong on so many occasions. He has been wrong on tuition, on his special election, on his frat boy antics, and so much more. Arnold is wrong for California.

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