But, not all students are so lucky, and many do not land the expected lucrative jobs--particularly in times of recession and general down turns in the economy. The costs of education in first-class, but not elite, institutions are as bad even if graduates earn much less than the graduates from elite colleges. This situation brings into an even sharper focus concerns over the rate of return on money invested in education. Since 1990, tuition has increased 89.5 percent at CSU's. UC's and community colleges also saw sharp rises in their tuition -- 124.9 percent and 290 percent, respectively. SF State students paid $839 for tuition in 1990. Today they pay $1,590, and the CSU Board of Trustees has recommended raising the fees by 10 percent next year.
More seriously, the high cost of attending elite schools brings up concerns about elitism in education. In other words, is good and expensive education geared to students with rich parents? Can the vast majority of lower and middle income students afford this kind of education or are we drifting into a situation which will, in time, make good education mostly the prerogative of wealthy people? The UC education system does not seem to offer a credible answer to the above concerns. Freedberg addresses the same issue in his article Critics Say Wilson's Plan Makes College Unattainable. He asks the question "Is a California college education the bargain of the century? Or will higher fees put a college diploma out of reach of growing numbers of poor and middle-class students?- (12). Journalists like Freedberg along with many other decision makers are now taking the view that the UC and State run educational institutions are wasteful, bureaucratic and with little accountability. One can hardly blame them for doing so with all the controversy that surrounds the politics of providing funds for the public education system. In 1996, Governor Wilson and Attorney General Dan Lungren campaigned actively for Proposition 209 this past year, which will wipe out access to higher education for thousands of people of color and women.