Go back 25 years, when the 100 or so California community colleges had free tuition and virtually any high school graduate could enter, regardless of grades or future university plans. At that time, those campuses primarily offered two-year associate degree programs ranging from trades such as police work, nursing and culinary arts to programs designed to prepare students to transition to the upper-tier, four-year colleges and universities. Students entering community colleges for the first time or returning this semester are finding the campus awash with students, while at the same time the colleges are working with reduced budgets. This has meant that many community college students can’t get into the classes they need to graduate, or are sitting in overcrowded classrooms. But the cost to even get that far has increased.

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by Jennifer Bonnett, The Lodi News-Sentinel.

Posted: September 18th, 2009, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.