Crank Up the Colleges

California’s public colleges and universities are running out of room, and the squeeze is expected to worsen as the so-called Tidal Wave 2, the children of the baby boomers, makes its demands on the state’s promise of higher education. Fortunately, there are solutions short of building a dozen or more new campuses, which would cost too much and take too long.

By 2005 California’s college enrollment is expected to grow by half a million students. To accommodate the influx, the legislative analyst’s office in Sacramento recommends year-round operation of all University of California, Cal State University and community college campuses.

Gov. Gray Davis supports summer, weekend and night school to increase college capacity, and so do many Republicans. Assemblyman George Runner Jr. (R-Lancaster) has introduced AB 126, which calls on the University of California and Cal State to operate year-round.

Runner’s bill would phase in the change with a modest expansion the first year. That would reduce the cost of summer classes, which are currently more expensive than classes offered during the regular school year. The first-year cost to the state would be $15 million.

Future costs of year-round operations have not been determined, but the expense is bound to be substantially less than that of building enough new UC and CSU campuses for traditional operation.

Making room would require nine new campuses, but only three are scheduled to open in time, a UC campus near Merced and Cal State campuses at Camarillo and Monterey Bay. The current plan falls far short of the baby-boomer building spree of the 1960s. Back then the state built five UC campuses--Irvine, Davis, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. The state also opened five Cal State campuses and 32 community colleges, and UC Berkeley and UCLA were operating year-round.

Year-round public college could increase enrollment slots by one-third on existing campuses, according to the legislative analyst, and expand opportunities at the state’s most competitive universities, UC Berkeley and UCLA. More UC and Cal State students could finish college in the traditional four years or even three, instead of spending five or more pursuing an undergraduate degree as is now the case.

Cal State is already expanding summer classes, starting with its teacher training programs. The Los Angeles campus will provide an incentive to freshmen who start this summer: a free quarter of college.

The state promises a college education for all who are eligible and wish to enroll at public campuses. Only a strong commitment to year-round UC, Cal State and community college programs can keep that promise.