SACRAMENTO, CA - Budget cuts proposed last week will cause community colleges
to turn away 262,845 current students if implemented, analysis released today by the
Community College League of California shows. The loss of a quarter of a million
students is the equivalent of closing the University of California.
The state's rising unemployment rate and decisions by the California State
University to limit enrollment will likely lead to even more students finding the doors to
higher education closed.
California's community colleges are seeing skyrocketing enrollments as
Californians return to college amid high unemployment to retrain for the changing
economy. The Department of Finance is now estimating that another 400,000
Californians will be jobless by 2010 as the unemployment increases from 7.7% to 9.7%.
Meanwhile, a poll released today by the Public Policy Institute of California finds
that 66% of Californians believe community colleges are doing an "excellent" or "good"
job, putting the two-year colleges on par with the California State University and
University of California. However, 83% of the public is concerned that the state's budget
gap will cause significant spending cuts in higher education, and 68% believe that more
funding is needed to provide "major improvements" to California's higher education
system.
"California's community colleges are our state's best economic stimulus," said
Scott Lay, president and chief executive officer of the Community College League of
California. "We must decide now to make the investment needed to emerge from this
downturn with a more equipped and knowledgeable workforce that translates into quality
jobs for our taxpayers and a stronger economy."
With 110 accredited colleges and more than 200 locations throughout California,
community colleges serve over 1.7 million students each term from nearly every
community in the state.
The Community College League of California is a nonprofit public benefit
corporation whose voluntary membership consists of the 72 local community college
districts in California. The League promotes student access and success by strengthening
colleges through leadership development, advocacy, policy development and district
services.
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