Dramatic course reductions and a fee hike are on the horizon for City College students.
Students will contend with decreased course offerings as early as this summer and by fall 2011 will see an increase in fees of an additional $10 per unit.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 70 March 24, which mandated an increase in fees from $26 per unit to $36 per unit. The extra money from the fee hike will go the state’s general fund to aid California’s $26 billion budget deficit, according to Susie Williams, LRCCD Associate Vice Chancellor of Communications and Research.
“Students are going to have to be more proactive at finding funding to pay for their educational costs as well as finding courses that are available to fill their schedule because we are unfortunately in a position where we are doing schedule reductions across the Los Rios community college district,” said City College Vice President of Instruction Mary Turner.
According to Turner, in addition to the fall fee hike, summer course offerings for 2011 have been reduced by approximately 25 percent compared to course offerings in summer 2010. She said that last summer there were 550 course offerings, but for summer 2011, there will be fewer than 400 courses available.
Turner projected that in the next academic year—fall 2011 to spring 2012—there will be about a 12.5 percent reduction in courses compared to courses offered in the current academic year.
“I would suggest that students look at scholarship opportunities,” said Turner. “Consistently there is scholarship money on our campus that does not get distributed because we have no applicants. Our scholarship office is trying to do as much as it can to publicize scholarships to students because it’s sad for the student and the donor, and it’s a loss for both parties.”
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She said that in the past she did not mind turning students away from her impacted classes because there were other class options available.
“When that student leaves the class now, I know that student can’t get into another class, and it breaks my heart. These students are trying, and I have to turn them out the door,” Patton said. “It’s affecting everyone, but it’s affecting the students most of all, and students that have the least resources.”
Business major Jacob Tayloy, 25, said that he will be one of the students feeling the effects of increased fees and reduced class offerings come fall. He said that he has accepted the reality of higher student fees and plans on taking 18 units so that he can transfer as soon as possible to a California State University.
“It’s my education, so it’s going to be all I have for myself in two years, and I’ll do what it takes to get there,” said Tayloy, who switched his major from acting to business.
“The [state of the] economy helped me to have a more singular focus on school. I’m less distracted.”
Turner said that students will have to be more focused in order to identify an educational goal that will help them find employment.
“Students don’t have the opportunity to shop as much as they used to—to try to explore,” Turner said.