Community College Enrollments Decline : Education: Fee hikes, combined with the elimination of hundreds of classes, are blamed at all four of the Valley’s two-year schools.

Increasing fees and fewer classes are contributing to a decline in enrollment at all four Valley community colleges this fall.

Enrollment dropped by 1,795 students at Pasadena City College, 790 students at Mt. San Antonio College and 1,616 students at East Los Angeles College compared with last year. Citrus Community College had not yet compiled its enrollment figures for this fall semester, but the admissions office said enrollment is definitely lower.

A statewide community college fee hike of $10 to $13 a unit for all undergraduates and $10 to $50 a unit for all graduates with bachelor’s degrees has driven some students away, administrators at all four campuses reported. For a full-time student carrying 12 units, fees rose $36, to $156 for undergraduates, and climbed $480, to $600 for graduates.

“It could be the fee increase; it could be the recession and costs going up. Maybe the classes we’re offering aren’t what people are looking for,” Diana Baxter, supervising clerk for admissions at East Los Angeles, said of the decline in enrollment.

“With the economy the way it is, people are going into more training courses instead of higher education,” Baxter said.

The economic crisis at the state level has slashed funding for higher education. Only $5.8 billion was allocated in 1991, compared to $10.2 billion in 1985. Lack of money has curtailed the number of classes area campuses can offer.

Citrus is offering 125 fewer classes this year, a reduction of 13%, the highest percentage of class cuts among the four Valley campuses.

Budget difficulties also have forced East Los Angeles to cancel 108 classes, a 5.6% drop from last year, according to Los Angeles Community College District reports.

PCC will offer 27 fewer class sections than last fall.

Mt. SAC has lost more than 700 classes over the past two years, but thanks to a resurgence in the number of continuing students, the college has added about 100 class sections this semester, said spokeswoman Jane Faulkner.

Class cutbacks force students to postpone their climb from two-year community colleges up the higher education ladder to four-year universities, said Tony Fry, student body president and student trustee at Citrus.

“Students complained; they complained a lot about not having adequate classes to meet the requirements to finish school,” Fry said. “A lot of classes were dumped that they need to transfer to a four-year college.”

But Fry said no student protests were planned at Citrus and the only action student government had taken was to post flyers about the class reductions.

“We went up to Sacramento and lobbied that way, but we don’t feel it’s feasible to have a rally on campus,” he said. “We’re a community college--it would be tough to get people to attend.”

Students at East Los Angeles face similar difficulties. Trouble getting into required classes has pushed back Alfredo Ballesteros’ graduation for at least a year.

“There’s 41 people on the waiting list,” said Ballesteros, worried that he would not be able to take a class he needs to graduate. The 20-year-old biology major works at a pharmacy to pay for school.

“That’s a whole other class,” said Guille Zepeda, commiserating with Ballesteros on the difficulty of getting classes. “And if you go on the waiting list, they only take the first 10 people, anyway,” said Zepeda, a 21-year-old law enforcement major at East Los Angeles.

But PCC student trustee John Robinson said most of the 27 classes dropped at his school were cut because of lack of interest.

“Some courses students just aren’t signing up for,” he said. “PCC hasn’t really cut back on classes . . . we’re doing OK considering all the problems everybody else is having.”

Administrators at all four colleges point to the lack of state funding as the major reason for fewer classes and higher costs.

“The demand for everything exceeds what we are able to offer,” said Melanie Cox, dean of admissions and financial aid at Citrus. “We’re not getting sufficient funding from the state to be able to offer enough (classes) to meet the demand.”

The Legislature caps funding for community colleges by assigning to them a certain number of full-time equivalency students--those who take a total of 525 hours of classes each year--that will be supported by state money.

But all four Valley community colleges are consistently “over cap.” Student demand outstrips state funding almost every year.

Citrus was about 1,500 students over its cap last year, said Jeanne Hamilton, vice president of student services. Citrus receives about $2,700 from the state per full-time equivalency student. The college was about $4 million over its funding level, Hamilton said.

The school reduced classes by 13% this fall to bring enrollment closer to its funding cap of 7,500 full-time equivalency students, Hamilton said. She added that the millions to support the additional 1,500 students came from staff cutbacks and no raises.

Pasadena City College was about 1,700 students or 10% over cap in the 1991-92 school year but had trimmed that margin to about 3% over cap by 1992-93 and hopes to stay within its funding cap for ‘93-’94, said Mark Wallace, director of public relations. The money for those extra students came out of the college’s general fund and other cutbacks, Wallace said.

East Los Angeles College is a part of the Los Angeles Community College District, which was over cap by about 4,000 students last year, according to Fausto Capobianco, director of public affairs.

The board of trustees was forced to divert about $5 million from district accounts to provide classes and services for the additional students, Capobianco said.

Mt. SAC is only 732 students over cap for this year, said Debbie Rio, secretary to the director of admissions and records. Those extra students are being supported by the college’s general fund, Rio said.

But the general funds of all four Valley community colleges could be drained further if the school voucher initiative, Proposition 174, gets signed by Gov. Pete Wilson, Rio said.

Proposition 98 linked funding for community colleges to funding for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, so Proposition 174 would funnel millions away from colleges and into educational vouchers, she said.

“If 174 passes, we’ll lose 11.4% of funding off the top, which translates to $6 million, just for our campus,” she said. “Across the board, our board of trustees prepared a report that shows the revenue loss for the community college system at $397 million by 1995-96.”

Last year, community colleges turned away about 100,000 students because of lack of funding and resources, said Ann Reed, vice chancellor for public relations for the system’s board of governors. The board had hoped to raise $40 million with the $3 per unit fee hike this year, but the increase has generated only $10 million.

Community College Enrollment

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE

1992-93: 16,171

1993-94: 14,555

Number of classes cut: 108

PASADENA CITY COLLEGE

1992-93: 24,209

1993-94: 22,414

Number of classes cut: 27

MT. SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE

1992-93: 23,265

1993-94: 22,475

Number of classes cut: Down 700 classes over the last two years, 91-92 and 92-93, but a resurgence in continuing students has allowed Mt. SAC to add 100 class sections for 93-94.

CITRUS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

1992-93: 12,374

1993-94: Not yet available

Number of classes cut: 125

Source: Area colleges