Sac State Graduation At Golden 1 Center Increases Ticket Price By $13

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — This spring's graduation ceremony will come at a higher cost for Sacramento State. Officials say it will now cost them $13 more per ticket to hold it at the Golden 1 Center.

University officials estimate it will cost more than $190,000 to hold the commencement ceremonies at the arena.

Sacramento State paid nearly $60,000 to hold its graduation ceremonies at Sleep Train Arena last spring, but officials say they did their best to find a solution this year.

"It's still not fair to the rest of us or the rest of the graduating seniors who are coming in because we're changing venues," said senior Eloisa Esperanza. "I feel like we already have to pay a lot to have our graduation that it's not really fair to pay more to have a ceremony for our accomplishments."

New numbers from university officials reveal that graduation fees were raised from $63 to $76.50 in anticipation of having to find a new venue after the closure of Sleep Train Arena. Officials say they considered the Sacramento Convention Center, Raley Field, Cal Expo and Memorial Auditorium, but those sites couldn't accommodate everyone.

Sacramento State's new contract with the Kings arena also shows the school has to pay a base fee of $50,000, plus additional charges estimated to include traffic management, camera operators, lighting, and stagehands. When all it said and done, that's $190,595.

(Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the price of the ticket went up from $13 to $76.50 -- a three-fold increase. The story has been updated with new, correct information. We apologize for the confusion.)