<P> The Master Plan for Higher Education also banned tuition , as it was based on the ideal that public higher education should be free to students ( just like K - 12 primary and secondary education ) . As officially enacted , it states that public higher education `` shall be tuition free to all residents . '' Thus , California residents legally do not pay tuition . However , the state has suffered severe budget deficits ever since the enacting of Proposition 13 in 1978 , which led to the imposition of per - unit enrollment fees for California residents ( equivalent in all but name to tuition ) at all community colleges and all CSU and UC campuses to get around the legal ban on tuition . Non-resident and international students , however , do pay tuition , which at community colleges is usually an additional $100 per unit ( or credit ) on top of the standard enrollment fee . Since no other American state bans tuition in public higher education , this issue is unique to California . In summer 2010 , the state 's public higher education systems began investigating the possibility of dropping the semantic confusion and switching to the more accurate term , tuition . </P>
<P> The Master Plan for Higher Education also banned tuition , as it was based on the ideal that public higher education should be free to students ( just like K - 12 primary and secondary education ) . As officially enacted , it states that public higher education `` shall be tuition free to all residents . '' Thus , California residents legally do not pay tuition . However , the state has suffered severe budget deficits ever since the enacting of Proposition 13 in 1978 , which led to the imposition of per - unit enrollment fees for California residents ( equivalent in all but name to tuition ) at all community colleges and all CSU and UC campuses to get around the legal ban on tuition . Non-resident and international students , however , do pay tuition , which at community colleges is usually an additional $100 per unit ( or credit ) on top of the standard enrollment fee . Since no other American state bans tuition in public higher education , this issue is unique to California . In summer 2010 , the state 's public higher education systems began investigating the possibility of dropping the semantic confusion and switching to the more accurate term , tuition . </P>
when did california community colleges start charging tuition
when did california community colleges start charging tuition
1978
1978