Enrollment at county community colleges up

Enrollment at San Diego County’s community colleges is up this summer despite fewer classes being offered because of proposed cuts in state funding, it was reported Thursday.

The San Diego Community College District cut summer offerings by 10 percent this year and enrollment at its three campuses — City, Miramar and Mesa — is up 8 percent, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

“We’ve never seen fill rates this high,” Lynn Neault, the district’s vice chancellor for student services, told the newspaper. “It’s unprecedented.”

Many students are pushing to graduate early, while others are updating their skills because they’ve lost their jobs or are worried about being laid off, according to the Union-Tribune.

At Grossmont College, a record 9,115 students are attending summer classes even though 50 fewer classes are being offered this year, the Union- Tribune reported.

The trend can also be seen at Palomar College in San Marcos and Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego.

Only MiraCosta College in Oceanside, where summer enrollment is up 22 percent, added classes this year, the Union-Tribune reported.

Most colleges cut summer offerings after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators proposed cutting $700 million from community colleges to help close California’s then-$24.3 billion deficit. The 2009-2010 fiscal year began
last week without an approved budget. Since then, the deficit has grown to $26.3 billion.

Tags: city, community college, Grossmont, Mesa, MiraCosta, Miramar, Palomar, Schwarzenegger, SDNN, Southwest

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