Average Support Cost Per Full-Time Equivalent Student and Sources of Funds
The total support cost per full-time equivalent student (FTES) includes the expenditures for current operations, including payments made to students in the form of financial aid and all fully reimbursed programs contained in state appropriations. The average support cost is determined by dividing the total cost by the number of FTES. The total CSU 2013/14 budget amounts were $2,330,500,000 from state General Fund (GF) appropriations (not including capital outlay funding) and before adding $16.3 million CalPERS retirement adjustment, $1,539,029,000 from tuition fee revenue and after tuition fee discounts (forgone revenue), and $408,305,000 from other fee revenues, for a total of $4,277,834,000. The number of 2013/14 FTES is 336,510 resident target and 14,328 nonresident students for a total of 350,838 FTES. The GF appropriation is applicable to resident students only whereas fee revenues are collected from resident and nonresident students. FTES is determined by dividing the total academic student load by 15 units per term (the figure used here to define a full-time student’s academic load).
The 2013/14 average support cost per FTES based on GF appropriation and net tuition fee revenue only is $11,312 and when including all sources as indicated below is $12,476, which includes all fee revenue in the CSU Operating Fund (e.g., tuition fees, application fees and other campus mandatory fees). Of this amount, the average net tuition and other fee revenue per FTES is $5,551.
| 2013/14 | Amount | Average Cost per FTES |
Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Appropriation (GF)1 | 2,330,500,000 | 6,925 | 55.5% |
| Net Tuition Fee Revenue2 | 1,539,029,000 | 4,387 | 35.2% |
| Other Fees Revenue2 | 408,305,000 | 1,164 | 9.3% |
| Total Support Cost | 4,277,834,000 | 12,476 | 100.0% |
1Represents state GF appropriation in the Budget Act of 2013/14; GF is divisible by resident students only (336,510 FTES).
2Represents CSU Operating Fund, Tuition Fee and other fees revenue amounts (net of tuition fee discounts) submitted in campus 2013/14 final budgets. Revenues are divisible by resident and nonresident students (350,838 FTES).
The average CSU 2013/14 academic year, resident undergraduate student basic tuition fee and other mandatory fees required to apply to, enroll in or attend the university is $6,695 ($5,472 tuition fee plus $1,223 average campus-based fees). However, the costs paid by individual students will vary depending on campus, program and whether a student is part-time, full-time, resident or nonresident.