AB 1831 Caps CSU Administrators’ Pay at 125% of Governor’s Salary, Reverses Recent Salary Increases, and Prohibits Raises When CSU Increases Student Tuition
SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D-Silicon Valley) introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 1831 to impose reasonable parameters on the compensation of California State University (CSU) administrators, managers, and contractors. AB 1831 establishes a salary cap for all CSU administrators, managers, and contractors not to exceed 125% percent of the salary of the Governor of California, prohibits the CSU from increasing compensation of these civil servants in a year the CSU increases student tuition, and requires the CSU Board of Trustees to repeal the pay increases for the CSU’s highest paid administrators and managers approved at their November 17-19, 2025, meeting.
Assemblymember Ahrens shared, “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. 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. My legislation will rein in out-of-control CSU administrator compensation and center the focus of CSU management on California students and families being able to access affordable, quality public higher education.”
Effective December 1, 2025, the Governor of California is paid $245,929 per year, which is reviewed, updated based on inflation and other factors, and set by the California Citizens Compensation Commission (CCCC). Therefore, AB 1831 would cap CSU administrator and manager pay at $307,411 annually – a cap that would increase over time as the CCCC increases the Governor’s salary.
At their November 17-19, 2025, meeting, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a resolution with large pay increases for the CSU’s highest paid administrators. The new highest paid of those CSU administrators receiving a raise was previously paid a base annual salary of $509,336 and is now paid a base annual salary of $611,203, more than 50% higher than the salary the President of the United States. The annual salary for the U.S. President is $400,000. AB 1831 would require these CSU administrative pay increases be rescinded. These large base salaries do not include the generous housing allowances, car stipends and other financial perks that CSU administrators receive. These numbers also do not include the cost to taxpayers of providing pensions to these administrators.
In January 2026, the CSU Board of Trustees approved more large pay increases, this time for CSU Vice Chancellors. The lowest paid of these administrators now makes a base annual salary of $368,433, which is $122,504 a year higher than the Governor of California. The highest paid of these administrators is now making a base annual salary of $466,400, which is nearly twice the Governor’s salary and $66,400 more than the salary of the United States President. One CSU administrator has a base salary nearly double that of the U.S. President.
“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 Margarita Berta-Ávila, California Faculty Association (CFA) president and Sacramento State professor. “We need this bill to pass so that we can ensure public dollars are funding the CSU classrooms, not the boardroom.”
CFA, the union representing faculty systemwide across the 22 campuses of the CSU, is a sponsor of AB 1831.
Chico State student Kat Anderson supports AB 1831 and shared: “The main goal of a learning institution should be to better society through the education and advancement of its students, not to extract from those students to add luxury to its administrators,” Anderson said. “Those that work for the CSU should identify with that mission and not make exuberant amounts of money at a direct cost to the students that they’re meant to serve. Similarly, if the CSU is making decisions influenced by austerity, such as cuts to employment opportunities, student services, and programs, then the trustees should not approve executive compensation increases.”
In September 2023, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a multi-year tuition increase, raising tuition for all students by 6% for five consecutive years. By the 2028-29 academic year, tuition will be 30% higher than it was in 2023.
The State of California has regularly increased the budget for the CSU system despite generally flat systemwide enrollment and employee headcount numbers. The 2025-26 California State Budget allocated nearly $5 billion in state funds to the CSU, in addition to more than $500 million dollars for CSU health benefits and retired annuitants, compared to the 2017-18 State Budget which allocated $3.4 billion to the CSU system and under $300 million for CSU benefits and retirees.
Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens represents the Silicon Valley in the California State Assembly for District 26. He serves on the Assembly Committees on Budget, Business and Professions, Health, Rules, Transportation, and Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Human Services. Assemblymember Ahrens is the Co-Chair of the California Legislative Technology & Innovation Caucus, and a member of the California Legislative Jewish and Bay Area Caucuses
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