Community College Enrollment Declines for Spring Semester

Declining enrollment continues to plague Orange County’s community colleges this semester, officials said Monday, but one, Saddleback College, is bucking the two-year trend with a 3% increase in students over a year ago.

With late registration still continuing, Saddleback’s Mission Viejo and Irvine campuses have enrolled a total of about 22,000 students, according to Herman Schmidt, associate dean for admissions. He said this is about 600 more than enrolled for the spring semester last year.

“I think the major reason (for increased enrollment) is our location in the county,” said Schmidt, noting that the campuses are in the fast-growing south county.

The county’s other six community colleges--Cypress College, Fullerton College, Santa Ana College, Orange Coast College, Golden West College and Coastline Community College--reported they lost enrollment over the 1984 spring semester.

Officials generally cited an improved economy--meaning more jobs and less incentive for college training--as a prime reason why fewer students are entering the two-year colleges.

Officials at those colleges said they think tuition, imposed for the first time last fall, is only a minor factor.

Community college officials also attributed the declines in part to the fact that there are fewer high school graduates, reflecting a dip in the birth rate beginning in the late 1960s.

Coast Community College District’s three colleges--Orange Coast, Coastline and Golden West--had the steepest declines.

As of Monday, Golden West had about a 10.7% decrease this semester compared to a year ago; Orange Coast and Coastline were each down about 10%.

Santa Ana College, which is administered by Rancho Santiago Community College District, reported a 5% enrollment decrease over last spring.

In the North Orange County Community College District, Cypress College reported a 3% enrollment dip and Fullerton College about an 8% decline.

Community college funding from the state is based on a formula that generally means less money if college enrollment declines, so the decreases in the six community colleges likely will translate into lost revenue.

‘When jobs are available, many people are not going to school to learn a skill.’

--Kirby Matter,

Santa Ana College registrar But spokesmen at the six colleges all said they had expected the continuing decline and the lost revenue. No college official said he feared a fiscal emergency due to decreased enrollment.

“The predominant factor (for the lost enrollment) is the economy,” said Kirby Matter, registrar at Santa Ana College. “I understand that unemployment is now below 4% in Orange County, and that’s virtually full employment. So when jobs are available, many people are not going to school to learn a skill.”

Wayne Wolfe, associate dean of admissions and records at Orange Coast College, had a similar view: “There’s now a low unemployment rate, and many people don’t see the need for retraining for jobs. There are also fewer high school graduates, especially in central Orange County, where there’s not a lot of new housing being built.”

William Claffey, associate dean of admissions at Cypress College, said: “When employment is high, enrollment (at community colleges) is low. Also, we’re not getting as many high school graduates now.”

Coastline Community College’s acting president, Ed Decker, said that while his college showed about a 10% dip this semester compared to the spring semester a year ago, there were nonetheless many good omens for the college. “Our enrollment this semester is up 6% over last fall, and in-class registration is still continuing and is running very high. Also, we’re showing a 40% increase in our telecourses this semester,” Decker said.

Fred Garcia, dean of admissions and records at Golden West, said he doesn’t believe the state’s newly required $50-a-semester tuition is causing enrollment declines. “Students just haven’t voiced that concern, and financial aid is available,” he said.

Russell Floan, associate dean of admissions at Fullerton College, said, “I don’t think the enrollment fee (tuition) has anything to do with it (declining enrollment). I think the big thing is that we’re just running out of students; they’re fewer in numbers in the high schools now.”