SANTA ANA : Fewer Classes, New Students at College

It’s getting increasingly difficult for new students to squeeze into Rancho Santiago Community College as demand for classes has jumped while the number of courses has dropped, district officials said last week.

Compared to last year’s enrollment figures, the number of new students has dropped 10.7% and the number of students transferring from other colleges fell 26.9%. The declines come despite a 20% increase in applications from those two groups, said Hal Bateman, dean of administration and enrollment services.

Because the college grants enrollment priority to continuing students to speed their graduation, new and transfer students often cannot get the classes they need. Also, with recent budget cuts and class reductions, competition for classes has become greater, especially in basic classes such as English as a second language, as well as science and math classes, Bateman said.

High unemployment increases demand for classes, but the poor economy is forcing schools statewide to restrict the number of classes offered. District officials said they are alarmed at how plummeting state funding has affected the college.

“We’ve had to come to grips with the fact that we can’t serve everybody who wants to come here,” Chancellor Vivian Blevins said on Friday.

“I think it really seriously sabotages the open access theory and philosophy behind California community colleges,” she said. “It undercuts the principle that everybody has a right to an education. That’s very distressing to me.”

Blevins said that the district, which has been forced to slash its budget by $7.2 million to $66.7 million, must cut out weekend classes beginning in the spring semester, reducing space for students further. “That’s the last thing we wanted to do,” she said.

Classes now have an average of 46 students and the minimum class size is 20 students per class. “That’s pitiful,” Blevins said. “Community college classes are supposed to be about individual attention. The ideal class size is 18.”

Although she lamented the declining numbers of new students, Blevins said that the district is improving its retention of continuing students. That figure is up 9.1% over last year, which she attributes to the quality of the district’s teachers.