SANTA ANA : College Reports 13% Enrollment Decline

Fee increases and dropped courses have contributed to a 13.4% decline in enrollment in the Rancho Santiago Community College District, with the largest decreases among part-time and new students, officials said this week.

Enrollment figures presented Monday night to the Board of Trustees show that the number of part-time students dropped 22.3% and the number of female students dropped 17.2% from last year’s enrollment. The number of first-time students plunged 41.6%.

Because of budget constraints, the district has slashed 14.5% of its classes while raising fees per unit from $6 to $10 for most students. Students with bachelor degrees saw their fees jump from $6 to $50 per unit.

“These people are not wealthy, and if they were, they wouldn’t be dropping out,” Trustee Charles W. (Pete) Maddox said. “These are women and poor people who we’re hurting, and it’s a shame.”

Chancellor Vivian Blevins said that because of continued state budget cuts, community colleges have become incapable of meeting the needs of everyone seeking affordable education. “The promise of access cannot be delivered,” she said.

Nationally, the average class size for community colleges is 18 students, but in California the average class size jumps to 33 students. Blevins said the district’s average is now 46 students per class and is expected to swell past 50 next year.

“This is a gloomy report, but if there is any bright side to it, it’s that continuing students dropped (out) much less,” Trustee Michael Ortell said.

Figures show that although total enrollment dropped 13.4%, the number of continuing students dropped only 7%.

Those figures show that the district does a good job holding onto the students it has, but that the hard part now is getting new students into the district, said Edward Hernandez Jr., executive vice chancellor. Much of the 41.6% drop in new student enrollment reflects the fact that fewer students are entering the college from Santa Ana Unified and other school districts.

Hernandez said most students from Santa Ana Unified who go to college attend one of Rancho Santiago’s four campuses and that “if they’re not coming here, they’re not going anywhere.”

After the meeting, Hernandez said the drop in enrollment could be caused by a number of reasons. “It could be the hard times--people need to work before they come to school,” he said. “It could be the fees, reduction in classes, other budget reductions, or elimination of outreach efforts.”

Hernandez said college officials are concerned that people are postponing their education because a temporary delay can become a permanently lost opportunity. He said college officials and Santa Ana school district plan to work together to ensure that students at least get their foot in the door, even if it means taking only one class.