Satellite Campuses Proposed to Ease Enrollment Squeeze : Education: The Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys are prime contenders for the community colleges because of growth.

A state consultant has recommended that new community college campuses be built within the next 15 years to accommodate anticipated enrollment growth in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, local college officials said Tuesday.

The report, by MGT Consultants, is part of a process to determine which areas of the state have the greatest need for additional campuses.

Its recommendations must be studied by state experts and will be the basis for plans to be reviewed at two public hearings on college expansion in October, said Charles McIntyre, director of research for the staff of the California Community Colleges’ Board of Governors.

Specifically, the report recommended beginning with college centers--satellite campuses that offer classes and some student services--in the Palmdale area, in the western Antelope Valley near California Springs, near Castaic and possibly in the Acton area. The centers are among about two dozen the consultant said would be needed statewide.

Another proposal is that at least two of these centers--first in Palmdale and later in Castaic--be considered for expansion into full campuses within the next 10 to 15 years.

The consultant’s report is based on state research on enrollment, population growth and migration as well as projections by the individual college districts, which ultimately would have jurisdiction over any new campuses, McIntyre said.

All of the study’s findings are preliminary and subject to change, he said. New enrollment and population projections to be released by the state Department of Finance in October, for example, could affect the recommendations.

But because demand for community college classes is so great in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, new statistics are unlikely to drastically alter proposals for expansion in those areas, McIntyre said.

“I would be pretty surprised if they recommended anything less for those areas,” he said. “There’s tremendous growth not only expected but already taking place out there.”

The news was greeted with enthusiasm at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita and at Antelope Valley College, which for several years have been among the fastest-growing colleges in the state.

“We’ve really been doing our homework, preparing our statistics, letting the state know just how great the need is out here,” said Steve Standerfer, a spokesman for Antelope Valley College, which enrolled nearly 9,900 students this fall. “This is a big first step.”

Sue Bozman, a spokeswoman for the 6,000-student College of the Canyons, said the Board of Trustees would start looking for potential college sites soon.

“It’s time to get started,” she said.

Once the staff for the Community Colleges’ Board of Governors develops its own report at the end of this year, proposals for adding campuses and centers will proceed through several layers of bureaucracy: to the Board of Governors itself, the California Postsecondary Education Commission and then to the Legislature.

Later, each community college district will have to develop its own plans and return to the Legislature to seek funding.