The governor’s proposal to raise per unit enrollment fees yet again, more than doubling fees in little more than a year, will squeeze local colleges even more.
By Lindsay Kuhn/Special to The Malibu Times
Santa Monica College’s reserves have dipped to just fewer than 2 percent, putting the college on the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Watch List. It is one on a list of 17 out of 72 community colleges statewide that have been put on the watch list, signifying that the colleges may be heading toward financial risk.
And although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed 2004-2005 State Budget Plan calls for funded enrollment growth of 3 percent, preservation of financial aid services that were augmented in the 2003 budget, and $80 million for equalization for California’s community colleges, also proposed is raising the per unit enrollment fee to $26. It was just raised from $11 per unit to $18. Many say this will cut out a chance of education for lower income students, which would then lower enrollment and consequently decrease income for the colleges.
Newly installed Chancellor of California Community Colleges Mark Drummond expressed alarm by this subsequent fee increase.
“The fee increase to $26 may discourage lower income and under-represented students from enrolling in the community colleges, but would also be an economic hardship for all students who look to our system for a cost-effective and quality education,” Drummond said in a press release on Jan. 9.
Bruce Smith, from the public information office at SMC, cited a decline in classes by 26 percent and a decline in matriculation from 31,000 to 25,000, from fall 2002 to fall 2003. Even though fees were simultaneously raised from $11 per unit to $18, Smith attributed the decline in students to the lesser class offerings.
Tom Donner, executive vice president of Business and Administration of SMC, explained that SMC landed on the watch list because of cuts in 2003-2004 in addition to unexpected mid-year budget cuts in 2002-2003. To adjust, SMC has had to delve into its reserves and make some cuts of its own.
“There’s a feeling we lost students because of cuts in class offerings, not fees,” Donner said.
The fee increase is one of the many challenges posed by the 2004-2005 budget, also including a proposed increase to $50 per unit for those with baccalaureate and other advanced degrees,
and no-cost-of-living adjustment funding.
And SMC, the lowest-funded community college in the state, has already dealt with its share of challenges.
“Our revenue is so close we rarely have enough to build up big reserves,” Donner said.
Reserves act as a cushion to minimize the flux of course offerings. When the reserve goes below 5 percent, the school gets put on the California Community College Watch List. SMC has gone on and off the list in the past few years. When on the list, it is required to present a report to California Community Colleges, outlining a recovery plan for the college.
Frederick E. Harris, assistant vice chancellor of College Finance and Facilities Planning at the Chancellor’s Office, said, when a school is on the watch list, it only means there are “trends that are pointing to potential problems. It doesn’t mean there are problems.”
As to how SMC got on the list, Harris said that the college used its reserves instead of cutting back programs or laying off faculty and employees.
“I would not say it was a mismanagement of money. They just decided to go on the path, temporarily,” Harris said. “They are just trying to weather the fiscal storm.”
The California Community Colleges Chancellor does not offer financial aid to the colleges in need but does exempt them from certain requirements, like the number of faculty. Donner explained that if a college is relieved from this requirement, the college could save money by replacing faculty members with lower cost employees.
Donner is counting on the $80 million Schwarzenegger has put toward equalization in his 2004-2005 budget to get SMC off the watch list.
Equalization would require resources for every student to differ by only 10 percent, per college, like in schools K through 12.
Fingers are crossed that these programs won’t get cut out of the budget before it’s signed on July 1. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” Donner said. “It’s extremely important to us.”