Caption: Aissa R. Canchola, left, and Gregory Washington are leading efforts to advocate for students nationwide. Photo by Karen Tapia Download Photo

ONE STUDENT had to drop out of college because the rising costs made higher education unaffordable. Another had to extend his graduation date by three semesters because budget cuts resulted in fewer course offerings, and the courses he needed to complete his degree were full. Numerous other students have to work more to cover tuition fees, thus delaying their graduation dates, often by several years.

These are the stories being told by thousands of California State University students, hand-written on the backs of “bucks” (mock $650 million bills) as part of “The Bucks Start Here” campaign by the California State Student Association. The campaign is intended to raise public awareness of the budget cuts to public higher education in California.

State funding for the CSU this academic year was cut by $650 million, and another $100 million slice is looming. As a result of continual budget cuts over the years, tuition fees have increased 200 percent since 2008.

“The budget cuts are hurting us, and we need to let our legislators know,” said Aissa R. Canchola, a Cal State Fullerton American studies and political science major and chair of the CSSA.

Canchola and fellow CSUF political science major Gregory Washington, CSSA president, are leading the Bucks campaign, which kicked off in November. Students at all 23 CSU campuses are writing on the “bucks” and dropping them into a big clear box that is traveling from campus to campus, making its way to Sacramento.

In March, Canchola and Washington will lead thousands of students, representing the CSU’s 412,000 students, to the state capitol to deliver the box to Gov. Jerry Brown and make their argument for the benefits of investing in higher education.

They plan to recite statistics. For example, the Public Policy Institute of California projects that by 2025, California will face a shortfall of a million college graduates needed to fill jobs.

And, for every dollar the state invests in the CSU, $5.43 is generated in economic activity, “which proves that the bucks actually start here,” Canchola and Washington said. “For California to recover, we need an educated workforce.”

Pushing for Pells

The students also are joining fellow students across the country, advocating for higher education and fighting for Pell Grants.

As the nation grapples with budget woes, the Pell grant program is in jeopardy of getting sliced.

Canchola and Washington recently spent a week in Washington, D.C., urging Congress members not to cut or weaken the program.

Thanks to the federal Pell grant program, Canchola, a first-generation college student, was able to attend Cal State Fullerton full time during her freshman and sophomore years.

Now in her fifth year with her sights on completing her bachelor’s degree in May, Canchola wants federal and state legislators to know the importance of the Pell grant program to low-income students who would not be able to afford higher education otherwise.

“Not having to take out loans my first two years really helped me,” the 22-year-old said, adding that many of California’s college students — 140,000 to be precise — depend on Pell grants.

With tuition costs climbing, an affordable education is getting out of reach, and cutting programs that help students would be detrimental to the future of America and the nation’s ability to prosper and compete globally, Canchola and Washington argued.

“Students are being honest and open about how budget cuts are impacting us and we are taking our stories to the people who can commit to investing in higher education,” Washington said.

“Aissa and Greg play an instrumental role in advocating for reinvestment in the CSU,” said Frances Teves, director of state relations and advocacy for Cal State Fullerton. “They understand the issues on the state and federal level and represent the student voice in their advocacy efforts. This is a critical time for public higher education as we face enormous budget challenges and now, more than ever, we need to articulate the value of higher education in our lives, communities and economy. I am proud of their efforts and commitment in fulfilling their own educational dreams while working to ensure that the promise of higher education will be available for students to come.”

Miles J. Nevin, executive director of CSSA, called Canchola and Washington “wonderful leaders.”

“They are doing a tremendous job,” Nevin said. “They both are really well informed on the issues affecting the CSU, and students in particular. They are very proactive at learning the issues and the complexities of the issues.”

To learn more about The Bucks Start Here campaign, visit http://www.csustudents.org/whatwedo/TheBucksStartHereCampaign.shtml.

For details on the Pell grant fight, visit http://capwiz.com/csustudents/issues/alert/?alertid=56865501&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id].