EXPENSES HURTING COLLEGE STUDENTS GAS, HOUSING ADD UP ON TOP OF TUITION.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

While California's public colleges and universities offer some of the lowest tuition and fees in the country, students complain that skyrocketing gas and housing prices are putting a crimp in their lifestyles.

Students at Los Angeles-area community colleges and universities grumble about having to live at home with Mom, carpool, photocopy or share pricey textbooks and even double their work hours just to make ends meet.

``I haven't been out of the Valley all summer,'' said Nicole King, 18, of West Hills, an aspiring nurse who attends Pierce College. ``I'm working, but I spend all my money on gas, books and tuition.''

CSUN graduate student Daniel Mills, 27, has been living with his parents in Oxnard to save money, but he is rethinking his decision after spending nearly $250 a month on gasoline. A scholarship and a part-time job teaching martial arts help, but he estimates textbooks will set him back $500 this semester.

``If I didn't have financial aid, there's no way I could come here,'' Mills said. ``I did the first two years of my undergraduate degree in Virginia, and I paid $500 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.''

Pierce student Sherra Dunklin, 23, of Los Angeles, can relate to Mills' dilemma. She moved two years ago from Little Rock, Ark., and is struggling to pay Southern California-level rents, in addition to out-of-state tuition.

``I could live in a mansion back home if I had the money to spend on rent that I spend now,'' she sighed, adding that she carpools and shares a textbook with a younger sister.

But officials with the state Legislative Analyst's Office and the California Post-Secondary Education Commission say the high cost of living here probably won't keep tuition increases at bay.

``If you're in California, you're facing a higher cost of living; that's just part of the background,'' said Steve Boilard, director of higher education for the nonpartisan LAO, noting that costs tend to be higher around college campuses in every state.

``The cost of living applies in California whether you're a student or not,'' he said.

Higher-education officials are calling for future increases to be moderate, gradual and predictable, ``instead of saying, when the state's budget is in trouble, how much can we squeeze out of students?'' Boilard said.

The state hasn't had a consistent fee policy for higher education since 1996, and fees have fluctuated, depending on the state's economy, according to the LAO. In the mid- to late-1990s, fees remained stable or even declined. But in the budget crisis that started in 2002, fees began rising again.

This year, although community college fees remain the same, both the California State University and University of California systems will have an 8 percent increase.

At just $26 a credit, California's 109 community colleges have the lowest tuition in the country, according to CPEC. New Mexico, the next-highest, charges nearly 15 percent more.

CPEC also found the CSU system charged the lowest undergraduate fees out of a group of 15 public universities nationwide that the CSU uses for faculty salary comparison purposes, and that the University of California system was cheaper for undergraduates than three of the four public universities it uses for comparative purposes. Only the State University of New York, Buffalo, charged less.

The LAO found similar results.

``Compared to other institutions, the fees are really reasonable,'' said Murray J. Haberman, CPEC executive director. ``But when you throw in the other factors - living expenses, transportation expenses - we're not that inexpensive any more.''

But Clara Potes-Fellow, spokeswoman for the CSU, noted that even with all the other student costs such as textbooks folded in, the average cost to attend a CSU is $14,000 a year - with nine of the other comparison universities costing far more.

Current tuition levels only reflect a fraction of the true cost to educate the student, Boilard said. The LAO estimates that non-needy community college students only paid 17 percent of the actual education cost in 2004-2005, non-needy CSU students paid 23 percent, and non-needy UC students paid 29 percent. The ratio was even lower for graduate students.

Boilard also noted that the state has increased its commitment to the Cal Grant program, which provides up to $8,300 a year for qualifying students, and that low-income community college students can apply to have their fees waived, so that poor students aren't squeezed out of an education.

Patrick Perry, vice chancellor of technology research and information for the 109-campus California Community College system, said the state does have an interest in keeping fees low, however.

``We have the lowest fees and the highest participation rate of the population between 18 and 50,'' Perry said of the community colleges.

``More students who live in California are able to access and get a higher education,'' he added, which means more highly trained workers to support the state's economy.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone].

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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PAYING MORE FOR COLLEGE

SOURCE: Los Angeles Community College District, California State University, Northridge 

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