Steve Hilton Unveils Plan For 3-Year Degrees & Freeze Tuition

SACRAMENTO, CA — California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton today announced a comprehensive plan to make the state’s public colleges affordable again by cutting costs, eliminating bureaucratic waste, and helping students graduate faster and get ahead.

For decades, California’s public colleges were a pathway to opportunity. Today, they have become a financial burden for working families.

At California State University, tuition has climbed to $6,450 per year, with more increases already planned. At the University of California, in-state tuition is $15,588, while total annual costs can reach nearly $47,000. Even community colleges, once considered low-cost, now come with rising fees and added expenses.

At the same time, students are taking longer to graduate, struggling to access required courses, and losing time and money due to broken transfer systems. 

Only about 35 percent of CSU students graduate in four years.

“After 15 years of one-party rule, California’s public colleges have become more expensive, more bureaucratic, and students are stuck waiting for classes they need to graduate,” said Steve Hilton. “Working families are paying more and getting less. That ends when I’m governor.”

The Califordable Hilton-Romero Plan focuses on five key reforms:

• Faster, Lower-Cost Degrees. Students will have the option to complete three-year degree programs and accelerated pathways, reducing costs and allowing them to enter the workforce sooner.
• Freeze Tuition and Force Cost Discipline. The plan will stop in-state tuition increases and require colleges to cut waste and operate more efficiently.
• Real Accountability and Leadership. Hilton will partner with Lieutenant Governor candidate Gloria Romero to enforce accountability across UC, CSU, and community college systems, using her role on governing boards to drive reform.
• Full Transparency on Spending. Independent audits, campus-level reporting, and program reviews will expose waste and ensure taxpayer dollars are focused on education, not bureaucracy.
• Fix The System for Students. The plan streamlines community college transfers, protects opportunities for California students, and implements a “Kindergarten-to-College Pipeline Strategy” to ensure students are prepared and not forced into costly remediation.

The plan also restores standards and focuses public colleges on delivering real outcomes, including career-ready skills, merit-based decisions, and safe learning environments.

“This is about ending the working-class squeeze,” Hilton added. “College should be a ladder up, not a cost trap. We’re going to cut the bloat, demand results, and make California’s public colleges affordable again.”

The announcement builds on Hilton’s broader campaign focus on affordability, accountability, and ending the failures of one-party rule that have driven up costs across the state. 

See The Full Plan HERE

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