Readers React: Cal State puts ‘success fees’ to good use

To the editor: The California State University system is a great academic success story. Though student fees have increased substantially, Cal State is considered to be one of the biggest bargains in higher education. (“Cal State’s ‘success fees,’” Editorial, Nov. 10)

Many folks do not realize what is happening at Cal State. At first glance, hiring more faculty and administrators looks wasteful. But new faculty and administrators catapult these campuses into modern education.

For example, my campus (Northridge) just received a $22-million grant to provide our students with state-of-the-art learning experiences. This was achieved by a team led by a newly hired specialist.

When people complain about fees, they should remember that U.S. higher education is the best in the world because of a system that does things right. The CSU system in particular balances great teaching and great research. Just look at the numbers of hands-on laboratory teaching experiences our students get compared with most primarily research universities.

Student success fees play an important role in the quality of this training.

Steven B. Oppenheimer, Northridge

The writer is a professor of biology at Cal State Northridge.

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