CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Community College Growth Outlined

A consulting group says the California Community College system--with 107 campuses and 45 smaller “learning centers”--will have to add 28 new campuses or centers in the next 14 years. The report by MGT Consultants of Sacramento was made public this week by state community college planners who predicted a rise in community college enrollment from 1.41 million this year to 1.9 million in 2005. Planner David Houtrouw said 11 of the 28 sites could start as small learning centers, eventually growing into full-service campuses with auditoriums, counseling staffs, libraries and broad course offerings. The planners cited the most likely areas for new full-service campuses as the fast-growing city of Folsom, east of Sacramento, and the counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, Fresno, Sonoma and Contra Costa. Kirk L. Knutsen, senior policy analyst with the California Postsecondary Education Commission, said construction of all 28 campuses and learning centers would cost about $2.67 billion in new state funds.