Full-time Ventura County Community College students will be saving almost one-hundred dollars this semester, thanks to a bill signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Fees throughout California will be going down for community colleges.

Effective Jan. 1, 2007, the California community college enrollment fee will be reduced from $26 per unit to $20 per unit.

Chancellor Marshal Drummond announced last fall that an education trailer bill, along with the California state budget, will replace the existing, complex and outdated fee situation to simplify things for California students. In a statement made to reporters, Drummond expressed his gratitude towards Gov. Schwarzenegger and his position on community college funding.

“The governor clearly understands the key role that the community colleges play in meeting the educational needs of millions of Californians,” said Drummond. “I look forward to working with him to implement community college system budget priorities that support his vision for California.”

For the past several years, fees for attending classes at community colleges have steadily risen.

Starting this semester, enrollment fess for classes at Ventura College, Oxnard College, and Moorpark College are down by six dollars per unit.

“The fee reduction is intended to insure that Californians have access to quality education,” said Ron Owens, spokesperson for the California community college Chancellor’s office. “[The reduction] is also for prospective students to make higher education a reality.”

This Jan., Gov. Schwarzenegger submitted the budget for the 07-08 fiscal year was proposed no fee increase for community college students.

“We are elated that the bipartisan legislature and the governor were able to reduce fees by nearly 25 percent,” said Owens.

“We are hopeful that fees will remain affordable for all Californians.”