The Path to the University Runs Through the Local College

Recent articles reported that the top salaries of California State University presidents rose three times in the last three years, averaging total increases of 30%. The top salary of the University of California vice president of clinical services was raised to $376,000--exceeding the combined salaries of our governor and United States president.

The University of California reportedly is using some student fees to grant administrative annual pay raises of $20,000 or more. UCLA is housing three students in dorm rooms designed for two because of campus overcrowding. A predicted “tidal wave” of students is coming.

In the higher education hierarchy, this information must be viewed in perspective. Salaries such as these are the exception, not the rule, for public employees in California. CSU faculty received 11% raises over the last two years, averaging about 5.5% annually. UC faculty will receive more modest pay increases of 4.5%, and other UC employees will receive approximately 3.5% pay increases. Community college faculty raises in 1997-98 averaged 3.75%, while classified employees received less than that.

By comparison, the typical Orange County elementary, intermediate or high school faculty member looks forward to a starting annual salary in the low $30,000 range. They routinely teach classes of 20 to more than 30 students, depending on stipulated class sizes. Community college professors here receive slightly more salary. Community college professors are full-time teachers while university professors often conduct research while teaching assistants teach many undergraduate courses.

What are we getting for our higher education tax dollars?

The Master Plan for Higher Education created a three-pronged system--community colleges, state universities and the UC system--but the funding is far from equal. According to 1997 data from the California Post-Secondary Education Commission:

* University of California received $13,931 tax dollars per student to serve 156,600 full-time students.

* California State University received $7,304 tax dollars per student to serve 350,254 full-time students.

* California community colleges received $3,623 tax dollars per student to serve 1,304,554 full-time students.

Community colleges serve far more students but continue to be chronically underfunded. At $11 a unit, California community colleges have the lowest enrollment fees in the nation. Moreover, the mission of the community colleges is to turn no one away, to meet a wide array of educational and training needs and, most important, to make a college education accessible to everyone willing to work and make the commitment.

Nationally, four in 10 students begin their higher education in a community college. In California, according to the latest available data, 58.5% of CSU students and 32% of UC students who earned degrees had transferred from community colleges. Nearly one-third of community college students are enrolled in classes preparing them to transfer to four-year institutions.

UC President Richard Atkinson and Thomas Nussbaum, state chancellor of the California community colleges, agreed in 1997 to increase student transfer rates by 33% by 2005. That goal now will be reached in 2001. Atkinson has said, “Once accepted, community college students who transfer to UC do as well as students who entered UC as freshmen.” South Orange County Community College District students from Saddleback and Irvine Valley colleges consistently attain higher grade-point averages during the junior year at UC Irvine than students who entered as freshmen.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed wrote that some students are dropping out in their sophomore year because of poor English and math skills. He decries a “disconnect between what is taught in our K-12 schools and what is expected at our universities.” While CSU is tackling the problem on many fronts, Reed is looking to the community colleges as a remedial solution.

I am an advocate of correcting the “disconnect.” Donald P. Wagner, my fellow trustee, testified last March before the Little Hoover Commission using information compiled by the Orange County Transfer Consortium that the “single greatest barrier to transfer is mathematics.” The U.S. Department of Education report said that many students in high school did not take, or did not have access to, higher-level English, math or science courses “essential to success in college. As a result, they often begin with reading and math deficiencies that require them to take remedial course work.”

Yes, a tidal wave of students will wash over all of higher education, impacting the community colleges the hardest. Of the 700,000 additional students who will seek admission to college in 2010, 529,000 will enroll in California’s community colleges. We must rediscover the critical role community colleges are playing in the higher education structure and provide the resources necessary to fulfill our mission and to keep California competitive.