Community college funding

As part of his attempt to address California’s $11.2 billion budget deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting about 10% from higher education.  For California community colleges, that means cutting 10% of funding at a time when enrollment has increased 10%.

Spreading the pain is an especially bad idea in this case because community colleges already receive considerably less funding than four-year institutions while serving considerably more students.

Community colleges serve almost three quarters of public undergraduate students in California.  Meanwhile, the California State University system serves under 20%, and the prestigious University of California serves under 10%.  Yet CSU gets twice the public funding that community colleges do, and UC gets three times the funding.

When unemployment rises and the economy worsens, lots of people return to school with the hope of improving their chances of future economic security. For many, that means improving their basic skills and/or pursuing career or technical education.  The first place they turn is to community colleges, where admission is less restrictive than at four-year institutions and costs are lower.

In spite of the controversial high school exit exam requirement, California high schools are still graduating many young people who do not have job-ready English-language, reading, writing, or math skills.  Community colleges are the only institutions prepared to seriously address this basic-skills problem.

Community colleges also serve adults who want to improve their job skills or train for a new career.  Earning a four-year degree may not be on their radar.  Yet people seeking improved job skills have higher community college course completion rates than people seeking degrees.

In difficult economic times, public funding will achieve more at the community college level than it will at the four-year college or university level.  At a time like this, community college is the worst place to cut higher education funding.