SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) Research conducted at Stanford University found that state colleges, including California State University (CSU) campuses, offer the most proven pathways to upward social mobility.
(2) The main barrier to student success in the CSU system is a student’s ability to afford all of the costs of college attendance.
(3) In the CSU system, a student has to find a way to afford tuition, campus-based fees, books, supplies, housing, food, personal costs, and transportation.
(4) A key cost with respect to transportation for CSU students is the cost to park on campus.
(5) On all CSU campuses, students pay more for parking than any other campus affiliate at a time when students are struggling more than ever to afford college.
(6) According to the CSU, 2 in 5 CSU students experience chronic hunger and 1 in 10 experiences homelessness. Underrepresented minority students experience these issues at higher rates than nonminority students.
(7) At the same time, student debt is increasing. The total outstanding student loan debt in the United States is $1,200,000,000,000, the second-highest level of consumer debt behind only mortgages. Most student loan debt is held by the federal government.
(8) For the 2015–16 academic year, nearly 8 out of every 10 CSU baccalaureate degree recipients who borrowed federal student loan moneys had annual family incomes no greater than $54,000, and almost two-thirds had annual family incomes less than $27,000.
(9) At CSU, underrepresented graduates of color are disproportionately more likely to have debt than their white peers.
(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that adjusts the current parking rates so that the parking rates paid by CSU students no longer subsidize the parking rates of campus affiliates.