Gavilan College stands to get more funding under the recently
approved California budget, but Gavilan students will pay more
money to enroll in classes for the second year in a row.
GILROY – Gavilan College stands to get more funding under the recently approved California budget, but Gavilan students will pay more money to enroll in classes for the second year in a row.
Funding for community colleges across the state will increase 7.4 percent in 2004-05. Colleges will receive $125 million to expand enrollment by nearly 3.7 percent, or about 40,297 students.
“It’s an overall funding increase, assuming you can get the growth that’s allocated,” Gavilan President Steve Kinsella said.
Gavilan is expected to grow by 3 percent next school year, or about 138 full-time students. Kinsella said he expects the college will be able to accommodate the additional students and 70 class sections will be added to the fall schedule.
“We’ll be looking at the growth, trying to make sure we take full advantage of that, so we can provide as much services as will be funded by the state,” Kinsella said.
Last fall, some class sections were cut due to reduced state funding.
The college also stands to gain $460,000 from a 2.41 percent cost-of-living increase from the state. There was no such increase in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s January budget proposal.
“There’s another item in here that we’re not sure at the moment whether or not we’re going to have any affect from it and that’s equalization money,” Kinsella said.
About $80 million will be provided to 58 districts across the state to increase their funding per full-time student and bring them closer to the statewide average funding rate. The equalization funds will go to districts that are below 90 percent of the statewide funding average. It is currently unclear whether Gavilan College will see any of that money, Kinsella said.
Gavilan students will pay an $8 increase in class fees for the second year in a row. The state will now charge $26 per unit, up from $18 last year and $11 the year before that. College officials worry the 45 percent fee hike could keep some low-income students from enrolling.
“I’m sure it’ll have that effect, it’s hard to say exactly what the effect will be,” Kinsella said. “But any time there’s a price increase, you’ll see a drop in enrollment.”
From Gavilan’s perspective, Kinsella said, there is no benefit to higher per-unit fees.
“It goes to the state,” he said. “It does deter students from taking advantage of what is really a great opportunity for a low-cost education by raising that.”
Legislators did, however, reject a proposal to charge $50 per unit to community college students who already have a bachelor’s or other advanced degree. Gavilan often serves students who already hold degrees and either need training to keep up with the times or are looking for skills that will help them find a higher-paying job.
“Folks that come back to get additional job skills, many of them have bachelor’s degrees or even advanced degrees, but they need those skills …,” Kinsella said.
Gavilan will lose some funding next year after failing to receive a $130,000 grant that would have been used for general operations.
“That’s a reduction to our budget,” Kinsella said, although he doesn’t think it will adversely affect Gavilan’s bottom line. “We were pretty comfortable coming in because we worked our way through the budget and we have some cost-saving measures coming into affect.
Kinsella also pointed to $108 million Measure E, passed in March by local voters, that by early next year will fund much-needed facilities upgrades to the Gavilan campus.
“Generally, we’re pretty happy with what’s happening with the budget,” Kinsella said.
