2 Cal State Universities to Offer College Courses in the Antelope Valley

Education-hungry Antelope Valley residents got good news Wednesday as both Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Bakersfield announced plans to offer college courses in the coming months.

Educators said the two universities will broaden the limited college course offerings in the area. They also said they hope that interest in the courses will demonstrate their belief that the area can support a four-year public university.

“We’re pleased to see the increased interest in the Antelope Valley by the CSU system,” said Allan Kurki, president of Antelope Valley College. The two-year community college is the only public institution of higher learning for the valley and its 200,000 residents.

Starting in September, plans call for Cal State Los Angeles to offer nine junior- and senior-level business and computer courses a year, officials said. And in January, plans call for Cal State Bakersfield to offer three graduate classes for public school teachers and administrators.

The Cal State Los Angeles courses will be held mostly at Antelope Valley College on Friday nights and Saturdays, officials said. Cal State Bakersfield courses will probably be held at an area high school at similar times. None of those classes can be offered by the community college.

Neither university has offered classes in the Antelope Valley before. University officials said their entry stems from local interest and the absence of offerings from Cal State Northridge, the state university that is supposed to serve the Antelope Valley.

CSUN has offered only sporadic classes in the Antelope Valley and none in the past year, officials said. Northridge officials said Wednesday that the university could not afford programs in the Antelope Valley without shortchanging the university’s main or Ventura campuses.

Bob Suzuki, CSUN’s vice president for academic affairs, said the university already has too many students and is having to turn many away. But Cal State Los Angeles is experiencing declining enrollment and is looking for new students and the money they bring, Suzuki said.

The Cal State Los Angeles business and computer classes in the Antelope Valley will count toward bachelor degrees in those fields, but students would have to attend a four-year institution to complete their degree requirements. The university chose business classes because they are the most popular among students, officials said.

The only other four-year college courses now offered in the Antelope Valley are for an undergraduate nursing program offered through Cal State Dominguez Hills, and a series of undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered at a center run by the private, Orange County-based Chapman College.