California’s community college system was designed 50 years ago to be the Golden Door into higher education for students who did not have a lot of gold. But the golden days may be coming to an end as rising tuition and other expenses are forcing many aspiring students out of the classroom and into a treacherous job market—or unemployment or welfare.
Severe cuts from the state have dramatically impacted Southwestern College. Nearly half of its courses have been eliminated in the past three years. Enrollment fees leapt from $26 per unit to $36, and another hike looms. Students also face rising costs for textbooks, parking passes and gas. Though community colleges in the Golden State are still arguably the nation’s best deal in higher education, too many students from this community have been priced out.
Fees rising from $26 to $36 a unit is an extra $120 per semester for full-time students. Financial aid, that lifeboat for low-income students, has become more competitive and takes longer to navigate the system. Textbooks often range from $75 to $120. A semester at SWC for a full-time, 12-unit student likely exceeds $700, a fraction of UC tuition, but a lot for a teenager working the p.m. shift at Taco Bell.
Students continue to turn to financial aid, scholarships, grants and loans to help pay for school. Great programs like the Board of Governors Fee Waiver (BOG) and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) are under-funded and overrun, and students who might have qualified two years ago are being turned down. Low-income and lower middle class students are feeling the squeeze. Combine this with the South County’s high unemployment rate, and students are feeling pressure to spend less on school and work more.
Community college is a melting pot of all cultures and hosts students from all walks of life. Our current economic turmoil leaves everyone baffled about how to adapt and survive. And many students, from all cultures, are starting to reconsider school, which is a very serious problem for our state’s future.
California’s higher education system is beginning to wobble after years of stagnant or reduced funding. Education—the driving force in our state’s once-robust economy—is becoming more difficult to attain. Access is critical or California will slowly divide into the haves and the have nots. Our work force will lack the skills to succeed in the careers of the 21st century.
SWC offers a wide-range of opportunities to students, maybe too many. GED programs, basic skill training, transfer opportunities, and degree training are core to the SWC mission, but maintaining so many priorities is difficult—and expensive. Hard choices loom for our next president and her team.
Access is critical, especially in a challenged community like ours where education is the pathway out of poverty and into productivity. Our state needs to find a way to keep our higher education system healthy, cutting-edge and affordable.
We can’t afford to leave so many of our citizens behind.