When Long Beach City College was first established in the late 1960s, tuition was $60 per term. Yes, that’s right– $60 for the whole term, not per unit or per class.
Throughout the years, tuition costs have steadily risen in California. Today, the average price of being a full-time student at LBCC is about $1,802, up $280 from the year prior. On top of tuition rises, LBCC is also facing enrollment reductions because of program cutting in areas such as photography, interior design, audio production, automotive technology, real estate and more.
And LBCC is not the only local college, facing these same issues. While CSU officials have guaranteed for now that tuition at the CSU will not rise next year, students at Cal State Long Beach have been suffering from a similar fate (see graph below).
The video above is a snapshot of a student from each school sharing their stories of struggle to pay tuition.