Fewer classes, increased fees and other budget cuts all contributed to three-year decline in enrollment at community colleges, a California Community College report has found.
The Chancellor’s Office report issued last April, showed that budget cuts between the fiscal years of 2001 and 2004 forced community colleges to eliminate 12,000 classes statewide, when a growing number of students were projected to have enrolled. The report also indicated that enrollment totals were significantly impacted by the fee increase in the fall of 2003.
“I think at Moorpark certainly [we] were affected by the regional and state level issues of the inflation [of] fees,” said Dr. Pam Eddinger, executive vice president of Moorpark College. “I believe that the state chancellor’s office is right. There is one very very clear factor in that our enrollment is tied to fees.”
The Ventura County Community College District for Office of Institutional Research performed Spring 2002 to Spring 2006 enrollment comparisons for Moorpark, Oxnard, and Ventura colleges. Moorpark College is down by 1,070 students, Oxnard College by 1,785, and Ventura by 749. The above student headcount is from the third week of the Spring 2006 semester.
Dr. Joan Smith, executive vice president of Ventura College, said students who wanted to improve their lives and were interested in taking a night class may have considered enrolling when tuition was lower. “At $26 per unit, the cost of parking and books, they now might find something else to do. I think that’s why we’ve lost some of that group,” Smith said.
Ramiro Sanchez, executive vice president at Oxnard College said that some of the reasons for falling enrollment were the rise in fees, students taking jobs rather than continuing education, the demands of the family and work, home and commuting costs have risen, and moving from Ventura County.
We have known from community college research that there is always a relationship between unemployment and attending community college. If there are lots and lots of jobs out there, especially in entry-level, community colleges are going to have fewer students,” Sanchez said. Moorpark College President, Dr. Eva Conrad, had an optimistic slant to share that encourages a glance at a broader perspective.
“If you look at the last 13 years, we all have had the perception that our college is growing, and yes we have.” In total for those 13 years, Moorpark College has grown by nearly 40 percent. “Don’t be too concerned with slight drops in enrollment. Try to see the bigger picture,” Conrad said.
The report concluded that financial aid in the form of Pell Grants and Board of Governors Fee Waivers increased from fiscal years 2002 to 2004, which helped stem the declining enrollment.
All three colleges have begun recruiting and outreach programs to try to bring enrollment back to pre-2003 levels.
Spring 2002 to Spring 2006 enrollment graph for Moorpark, Oxnard, and Ventura colleges.
