Death by 18,000 cuts
By Hugh Biggar
hughb@newsreview.com
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 California community colleges could turn away as many as 400,000 students next fall. Here in Sacramento, Los Rios might reject 18,000 locals, such as these Sacramento City College students. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DON BUTTON |
California residents may be eligible for an enrollment-fee waiver. To apply for the Board of Governors, or BOG, waiver, visitwww.cccapply.org/BOG_Waiver. |
That giant sucking sound you hear next fall could be the whoosh of Los Rios community colleges shutting the door on thousands of students. That sound could also be the brain drain of high-school students turning to other states due to the diminished quality of higher education in California.
With the state facing huge funding gaps, California’s community colleges anticipate turning away as many as 400,000 students next fall—about the same amount as those currently enrolled in the California State University system. For the four schools in the Sacramento area’s Los Rios Community College District, this could mean turning away 18,000 students for the fall quarter.
“Students are going to get hurt, and the economy as well,” said Susie Williams, a spokeswoman for the district, while noting that the Los Rios educates about 40 percent of Sacramento County’s high-school graduates. The decline in higher education is also leading n