Community colleges: Idea
of free access is left behind

Sometimes the forgotten stepchild of the state’s public education system, California’s community colleges are caught in a long-lasting state budget crunch. How did the stepping stone to meaningful trades and even a four-year degree get off track?

Higher education, once considered a prerequisite for raising one’s standard of living, is becoming increasingly difficult to access in the Golden State. California’s community colleges have played an integral role in providing higher education for millions of the state’s residents. However, in recent decades, a troubled economy and changes in their overall mission have affected the way California’s 108 community colleges perform.

The financial woes of the state’s community colleges can be traced back to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1979. Prop. 13 halted a proposed increase in state property taxes, the colleges’ primary source of funding, because of the anger of many of the state’s residents over rising property taxes. Instead, it provided that property taxes be consolidated as state revenues. Rather than dividing the money equally among all campuses, colleges would now receive a certain amount derived by a formula. It also ceded the local autonomy of community college districts to Sacramento.

“The reason Prop. 13 wound up on the ballot was a legitimate issue — people were tired of this huge inflation in property taxes,” said Mona Field, president of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. “It solved its intended problem at the time. However, it trashed the budgets of local governments, which is where the community colleges’ funding came from. In some sense, Prop. 13 began the betrayal of community colleges as a free-access institution. Now we’re at the mercy of the state economy and state budget.”

Until 1984, community college tuition was free. But that year, the state began charging tuition for the first time in history at $5 per unit, where it remained until 1991. Tuition has been raised several times since. By 1994, it was up to $13 per unit. Then-Gov. Pete Wilson proposed in 1995 that tuition be raised to $15 per unit because of a $47 million shortfall in property tax revenues, largely a result of Prop. 13.

In 2004, the rate is $18 per unit. However, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed raising it to $26 per unit to help overcome the state’s huge budget shortfall.

“Some see the charging of tuition at community colleges as a betrayal of the California Master Plan, which said there would be open access to higher education,” said Field, who also teaches political science at Glendale Community College. “If they would reinstate an income tax increase of the top wealthiest people in the state, this would give folks on the bottom more of an opportunity.”

Every tuition increase, from its inception in 1984, to the current proposed increase, has been met with protests from both students and teachers, despite the fact that California’s community college fees are still the lowest in the nation.

“An individual should make education a huge priority in their lives, even if it’s more expensive than it ought to be,” Field said. “I encourage students to personally budget themselves to make sure they can go to college, whatever the fee, even if it means giving up other things in your life.

“On the other hand, California is supposed to be the Golden State and the land of opportunity. What has made it that way is we’ve made college accessible. Now that they’re changing that, it’s going to be a lot tougher.”

Initially, California’s community colleges served a role that could be compared to that of a vocational school. Many students attended to earn degrees in subjects ranging from agriculture to auto mechanics. That role has evolved over the years as more students began to take advantage of the colleges’ inexpensive tuition, compared to that of four-year universities. Many students found they could take the same general education requirements for their first two years at a community college and then complete their degree by transferring to a university. The state government recognized this and passed Assembly Bill 1725 in 1987, which redefined the role of California community colleges and their place in California higher education.

“Over the years, I think we’ve taken on an even bigger role,” Field said. “Now, almost every college offers basic skills programs like English as a Second Language. That was a task that 40 years ago wasn’t even on the state’s agenda.”

To offset the loss of funding caused by Prop. 13, community colleges have used a combination of education bond measures and private fund raising to help fill financial gaps.

In 1988, California voters passed Proposition 98, which allotted 42 percent of the state’s general fund to students in kindergarten through community colleges. Overall, however, there are estimates that they have been shortchanged in funds about two percent each year.

Voters approved a critical measure in November 2000 with Proposition 39, which reduced the percentage of votes needed to pass an educational bond measure from two-thirds to 55 percent.

Because of Prop. 39, California voters passed two new education bond measures in consecutive years. In April 2001, Proposition A provided $1.2 billion in much-needed funds to renovate existing facilities as well as build new ones. The next year, Measure R passed, raising dedicated property taxes by $24.95 each year.

Field said that, for the first time, community colleges are also turning to the private sector for funds.

“I think we’ve seen a growing awareness of the need to turn to the private sector,” Field said. “Many community colleges now have foundations and PR staff, they make sure their president is out in the community getting support.”

Gov. Gray Davis, facing one of the state’s worst deficits in history, proposed cutting $524 million from the state’s community college budget in 2003. Davis was recalled from office later that year in a wide eruption of discontent at his administration.

This past March, voters narrowly approved Proposition 55, which would provide funds to improve existing facilities and build new classrooms for all public education institutions, including community colleges. Had it not passed, it would have automatically been bumped to the November 2004 ballot.

An overwhelming majority of students attending community colleges also work, which, according to a recent study, jeopardizes their chances of graduating. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) released results of a May 2002 study done by the State Public Interest Research Groups at http://www.pirg.org/highered/atwhatcost.html. The survey indicated that during the 1999-2000 academic year, 74 percent of full-time students were working, up from 71 percent in 1995-96. The same survey says that 46 percent of these students work 25 or more hours per week and that working students are less likely to graduate or even finish their first year of college.

In its most recent student survey that contained a question regarding working students (1996), 75 percent of students enrolled in the Los Angeles Community College District — the largest district in the state — said they work at least part-time.

“Obviously, the easiest way to go to college is to have your family take care of you so you can study full time, but that’s not the norm,” Field said. “I see all the time the impact on students who work. They often have to miss class because of other work commitments. It puts a huge time crunch on their lives.

“But even for those students who work and have families, even though it is incredibly challenging, they need to make education a priority, juggling it as best they can.”