Legislator wants to roll back pay raises for CSU presidents, including at Fresno State

A bill introduced by a state lawmaker would repeal significant pay increases for California State University presidents that were approved by the board of trustees last November and set limits on compensation for non-union administrators, managers and contractors across the 22-campus system.

Those pay increases, coming amid a severe budget crunch, raised the base pay of 13 university presidents by 5% to 20%. The board also eliminated a policy that limited a president’s initial pay to no more than 10% of their predecessor’s pay, created performance bonuses and increased retirement benefits and housing stipends.

Fresno State president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval received a 10% raise that increased his base pay to $523,617, making him the fifth-highest paid campus president in the CSU.

The CSU board of trustees said the compensation plan would strengthen its ability to recruit and retain high-level administrators, but it was roundly criticized at a time students are facing increased tuition costs and employees allege the CSU is failing to uphold collectively bargained step salary increases.

“As I said last year, enough is enough: CSU administrators are public civil servants and should not be getting rich on the backs of California families,” Patrick Ahrens (D-Sunnyvale), who introduced the bill on Wednesday, said in a press release. “It is outrageous that the California State University system is approving massive pay increases for administrators already making more than our governor or the U.S. president while raising student tuition and fees, cutting classes and student services and not honoring pay agreements made with their staff.”

Assembly Bill 1831, sponsored by the California Faculty Association, would establish parameters for executive compensation in the largest 4-year public university system in the country.

In addition to repealing the pay increases for CSU presidents, it would cap salaries at 125% of the governor’s salary and prevent salary increases in any year student tuition is increased. The CSU board in 2023 approved a multi-year tuition increase — tuition for an undergraduate student taking six or more units a semester will increase 6% a year over a five-year period, going from $5,742 in 2023-24 to $7,682 in 2028-29.

“The California State University does not comment on proposed legislation before fully evaluating bill language and its potential implications,” a CSU spokesperson said.

California pays its governor $245,929, a figure determined by the California Citizens Compensation Commission. The state attorney general and superintendent of public instruction are paid $213,617; the controller, treasurer and insurance commissioner $196,743 and the lieutenant governor $184,447, according to the state department of human resources. The cap, at 125% of the governor’s salary, would be $307,411 per year.

With the pay increases in November, Cal Poly president Jeffrey Armstrong is the highest paid president in the CSU with a base salary of $611,203, and eight other presidents including Jiménez-Sandoval at Fresno State are paid more than $500,000. That is in line or competitive with presidents at some of the universities Fresno State competes against in the Mountain West Conference in sports — Boise State reportedly paid its president $473,000, Utah State $580,000, UNLV $540,000, Nevada $628,000, Wyoming $404,000.

But with the significant pay increases, timing is an issue. The board of trustees in January also approved pay increases for four vice chancellors, the raises ranging from 4% to 17%. The vice chancellor for academic affairs is the highest paid in that group at $466,400, 6% increase in base pay. The vice chancellor and chief audit officer is the lowest paid of the four at $368,433, a 17% increase in base pay.

“The CSU board of trustees recently voted on massive salary increases for campus presidents and vice chancellors, meanwhile we have faculty who are literally living in their cars while working full-time,” said CFA president Margarita Berta-Avila, in a press release. “We need this bill to pass so that we can ensure public dollars are funding the CSU classrooms, not the boardroom.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2026 at 5:19 AM.