Students here at Mesa are finding ways to cope with the fact that this year summer school will not be offered to a majority of students.
Not all summer classes are being cut though, in an e-mail sent to students on April 8, the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) stated that “The only courses we will be offering will be those to honor specific commitments, including specialized allied health programs,” such as nursing or paralegal studies, “and pending summer graduates.”
With only a small amount of classes available many students like Zakar Jayne are now forced to look throughout San Diego and for some people outside of the state to take the classes that they originally planned on taking at Mesa. Jayne has already pre-registered at other Community Colleges in San Diego such as Grossmont College and Palomar in an effort stay on track with his education plan.
“I have to take eighteen credits for the next two semesters [now],”said Jayne. “[I have to] try to get in three or six” this summer.”
Jayne is also hoping to take part in San Diego State University’s Cross Enrollment Program. According to the Cross Enrollment Program, “undergraduate students enrolled in the California Community Colleges, California State University, or the University of California to enroll at one of the other two institutions via the Cross Enrollment Program without formal admission and without payment of additional State University fees.”
At least here in San Diego the summer weather is great at helping students ease the pain of not being able to go to school. Chi Nguyen said that her summer would be “equal parts of working and the beach.
“I’m pissed that [Mesa] isn’t offering it,” Nguyen said. She also considered going to Southwestern College for the summer but declared that that it was too far.
A March 30 press release from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office states that there are 112 community colleges affected by the $400 million in budget cuts and that the colleges should also be expecting another budget cut of $800 million, which would force colleges to away turn more than 400,000 students.
On top of that enrollment fees are expected to increase in the fall term from $26 to $36 and the Legislative Analyst’s Office recommend that the fees be increased to $66 per unit if an all-cuts budget is approved.
In the same press release Chancellor Jack Scott stated, “If just 2 percent more of California’s population earned an associate degree and 1 percent more earned a bachelor’s degree, the state’s economy would grow by $20 billion. We have to remember that funding for higher education in California is not a cost, but an investment.”
In a survey conducted by Pearson Foundation Community College Student Survey found that forty-seven percent of California students have been unable to enroll in needed courses because they were full. Across the Nation the number is 28 percent.
Nonetheless school will be back on in the fall term so this summer enjoy the beach the sun the surf and all the high times.