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Santa Monica College delays two-tier proposal that offers more classes but at an extra cost

By Brendan Jackson and Elizabeth Case

April 12, 2012 2:12 a.m.

It has been a lifelong dream for Jacky Karadjian to attend UCLA. But as she watched the cost of a University of California education rise, she decided to attend Santa Monica College for two years to save money.

Now Karadjian will have to put her dream on hold again. After a series of sharp budget cuts to the California Community Colleges system, the first-year psychology student said she will have to study for three years at the community college level before she can complete transfer requirements.

“It has been especially difficult to enroll in pre-requirements for my major because classes are so impacted,” Karadjian said.

Last week, Santa Monica College made national headlines when police used pepper spray on 30 students who were protesting at the college’s Board of Trustees meeting. After receiving news that California’s community colleges would face further budget cuts, the board had proposed a two-tiered class enrollment for the 2012 summer session.

Under the plan, students could pay more to enroll in one of 50 sections for high-demand classes such as English, math and science.

Several hundred students protested the proposal at the trustees’ meeting, saying it would put students who couldn’t afford the extra expense at a disadvantage.

“The proposal is counterintuitive because a lot of kids go to community college with the purpose of saving money, and this proposal would prevent them from reducing costs,” Karadjian said.

On April 6, the board voted to postpone integrating the two-tiered system. As a result, the 50 additional classes will not be offered.

Community college students are already facing a system-wide fee increase, which came in response to state trigger cuts. The increase, from $36 per unit to $46 per unit, will take place during the summer session.

This will mark the second hike of $10 per unit in the last year, according to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Additionally, Santa Monica may cut its winter session entirely because of insufficient funds, said Bruce Smith, the college’s public information officer.

More than 500 students transfer to UCLA from Santa Monica College, the most in California; however, the recent cuts may make it difficult for students to take the classes they need to transfer successfully, Smith said.

UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez said that even amid turbulent financial times the university has maintained strong relationships with community colleges and continues to allow opportunities for transfer students.

Through efforts by the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships and the Bruin Resource Center, UCLA has attracted a diverse and talented pool of transfer applicants every year, according to a statement from Judith Smith, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education.

“Among all UC campuses, UCLA has always been the most successful at enrolling and graduating transfer students,” Smith said in a statement last month regarding transfer admissions. “Nearly 40 percent of all the bachelor’s degrees awarded by UCLA each year go to students who come to us as transfers.”

But this year, for the first time this decade, the number of transfer applications UCLA received declined, Vazquez said.

“(The university) speculates that the dip in the number of transfer applicants is due to budget cuts at the community college level that has made it harder for students to fulfill the transfer requirements,” Vazquez said.

After losing $400 million in state funding at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, the California Community Colleges system is facing an additional $102 million to $149 million in cuts. The system faces an estimated total of $809 million in losses or about 12 percent of the current budget.

UCLA’s admission rate of transfer students has fallen steadily over the last five years, in part because of the budget shortfalls, according to UCLA admissions data, while the price of tuition has increased.

In response, more students have turned to community colleges to launch their education, said Paige Marlatt Dorr, a spokeswoman for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

“We have the perfect storm of students: veterans, the unemployed and students turned away from CSUs and UCs,” she said.

Increased demand for enrollment, combined with less money per student, has put a strain on community colleges throughout California. Those who traditionally send tens and hundreds of transfer students to UCLA are reeling from the shortfall, according to the California Postsecondary Commission .

Third-year history transfer student Gilberto Carillo said he transferred out of West Los Angeles College to UCLA at “just the right time.”

“When I first started at West L.A., classes were $26 per unit,” Carillo said. “Since then the price has skyrocketed.”

Students go between Santa Monica College and West L.A. to take classes to give themselves a better chance of completing the requirements on time, he said.

“There’s just simply not enough classes for everyone,” Carillo said.

Pasadena City College, just 19 miles from campus, averages about 200 transfers per year to UCLA and has also been affected by the recent shortfall.

“We’re in better shape than most (community) colleges,” said Juan Gutierrez, Pasadena’s director of public relations. “We’ve tried to keep most of the cuts away from the classroom.”

Instead, the college has offered early retirement packages and set up the Pasadena City College Graduation Fund, which allows community members, faculty and other interested parties to donate money toward sections needed to transfer or for graduation.

Compared to Santa Monica College, which has had to cut 1,142 classes since 2008, Pasadena only had to cut 45.

Still, if the November tax initiative proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t pass, Pasadena City College will face an additional $5 million loss and be forced to reduce course offerings. The measure aims to temporarily increase California sales tax and income tax for high earners, generating additional revenue for the state.

“We’re cut to the bone here,” Gutierrez said.

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