Enrollment Drops 8% at State Public Colleges, Universities

Enrollment in California public colleges and universities decreased 8% in the past year because of student fee increases, fewer class offerings and budget cuts, a San Jose-based research group reported Thursday.

The drop of more than 160,000 students was the steepest for any state and shows that the “message of discouragement” is replacing the historic open-door promise at California community colleges, Cal State and the University of California, said Patrick M. Callan, executive director of the California Higher Education Policy Center.

Callan said statistics collected by the nonprofit center show that enrollment in the three systems dropped from 2,030,238 in fall, 1992, to 1,868,553 last fall. The community colleges lost 137,000, Cal State 22,000 and UC 2,700, the center found.

Total enrollment in the state’s colleges and universities began to decline three years ago. Callan blamed this academic year’s losses on the stiff increase in student fees and institutional downsizing, which has prompted community colleges and some Cal State campuses to discontinue class offerings.

Callan also said it was significant that the number of high school students taking college eligibility courses has declined, even as the high school population is increasing.