The state’s plan to offset budget troubles by doubling community
college tuition fees could mean a loss of 1,200 Gavilan College
students next year.
The state’s plan to offset budget troubles by doubling community college tuition fees could mean a loss of 1,200 Gavilan College students next year.
The sobering news was brought to light this week by union groups and the California Community College Chancellor’s office. The groups are forecasting that more than 200,000 students across the state will not be able to afford Gov. Gray Davis’ proposed tuition hike from $11 per unit to $24.
“This is a move that doesn’t put one dollar back into education. When student fees go up, the state’s payment (to community colleges) goes down,” Gavilan President Steve Kinsella said. “This is just a maneuver by the state to free up money elsewhere in their budget.”
Kinsella and a group of Gavilan student leaders will meet tomorrow with Assemblyman Simon Salinas, D-Salinas, who will have a say when the state Legislature considers the tuition increase.
“We want to give him a better sense of the impact this will have on us. Simon is an educator himself so he has some background knowledge going in, but this will put a face on it,” Kinsella said.
The dropout rate is calculated by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s office, which says that historically there has been a 1 percent drop in enrollment for each $1-per-unit fee increase.
Most college credit courses are worth three units. Full-time students often carry a total of 12 units.
A fee hike is not the only factor potentially contributing to a student exodus from Gavilan. The school has already decided to cut about 100 classes from its standard fall course offerings in 2003-04. The cuts are cost-effective, the school says, because they are designed to create maximum capacity in classrooms.
Some students, however, may have to leave Gavilan – and take their tuition with them – if courses they need to graduate are no longer offered.
Kinsella said he has considered adding courses if there was a larger exodus than expected. His cost analysis, however, did not bode well.
“It doesn’t make sense to achieve full enrollment. It costs more to achieve full enrollment than it earns to have full enrollment,” he said. “We want to have an efficient operation. We can’t take risks until we know exactly what the state is going to do.”
