Real benefit, no real cost

Free money! Free money for California! The state has a thousand difficult budget choices ahead of it; here’s an easy one: Raise community college fees. By a lot. In fact, doubling them sounds about right.

Let’s pause for the predictable gasps of outrage. Raise fees for this cornerstone of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education? Single out the most affordable route to job training and college degrees? Yes. Not only are community colleges overdue for a price hike, but thanks to recent changes in tax law, a higher per-credit charge doesn’t need to cost anything extra for most students.

California, the state in arguably the worst financial shape in the country, also has the nation’s lowest priced community colleges at $20 per unit, or about $300 per semester for a full-time student. It could double that and still be close to the lowest. At a time when steady fee increases at the University of California have led to a drop in applications from middle-class families, the state cannot continue offering courses at the two-year colleges for substantially less money than the textbooks required to take them.

More important than keeping fees unrealistically low is retaining vital courses so that Californians can train for new jobs or advance to a four-year college. Students’ living expenses are far higher than their fees; staying in school longer because they can’t get into needed classes costs them more than higher per-unit prices.

A report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office makes this choice all the more obvious. It notes that the new American Opportunity Credit, a tax credit that takes effect this year, will cover $2,000 in tuition and textbook costs for couples earning an adjusted annual income of up to $160,000, or up to $80,000 for an individual.

Students or parents earning more can afford the fees; the community colleges would remain one of the best higher education bargains in the country. For those who earn too little to get this kind of money back on their taxes, the community colleges have long had a generous fee waiver program. A married student who earns up to $83,000 a year and who has a child, for example, need pay no fees. The state could easily extend this fee relief to those who fall between the cracks if it were collecting double the fees elsewhere.

Even a price increase might not make the community colleges whole after budget cuts. The state must look at restricting the colleges to their core education missions, which would not include the free enrichment classes now offered to senior citizens. But raising fees is one quick fix with real benefits at no real cost.