Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong approved the Cal Poly College College Based Fee Student Aid and Learn by Doing Plan, according to a campus-wide email sent Monday morning. Academic Affairs first submitted this proposal in fall 2021.
The fee only applies to future students who are starting in Fall 2022, not current students. This is so students will be informed about their increase in the College Based Fee and what financial aid they are offered before accepting their offer of admission.
The incoming 2022-23 freshman class would pay a fee of $1,361-$1,948 (depending on college) instead of the current $648-$1,044 fee. The College Based Fee will increase four times until 2025-26 for each freshman class when it would cap at $3,600-$4,600.
The fee varies among Cal Poly’s six colleges and is adjusted each year for inflation. According to Cal Poly’s presentation on the CBF, 60% of the revenue generated from the fee will fund financial aid while 40% will go towards academic opportunities.
The main goals of this plan are to make Cal Poly more affordable for students in California that come from low and middle income families and to increase diversity of students, according to the email. Cal Poly is more expensive than any schools in the University of California (UC) system because of the financial aid UC schools provide for their students. This plan was created to counter that.
“The plan has the promise and potential to be one of the most transformative initiatives implemented during my tenure to-date as Cal Poly’s president,” Armstrong said in the email.
At the end of the email, Armstrong thanked all those who participated in the plan’s development and community feedback process.
“The thought, planning and details of the CBF (College Based Fee) have been in the works for several years,” Armstrong said. “I want to thank everyone who participated in that planning, as well as those who participated in the robust process of consultation over the last five weeks.”