Staggering enrollment fee increases, class schedule reductions and sky-high textbook costs continue to hinder SRJC students’ abilities to get the education they need and deserve; and the worst may be yet to come.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s attempts to tackle California’s estimated $26 billion deficit has already caused major disruption at every level of higher education, causing SRJC enrollment to jump from $26 to $36 per unit this semester, an unprecedented rise for the school.
Ryan McKeever, an SRJC student studying Sociology, thinks the fee increases are going to continue to rise until he can’t afford the classes he needs.
“It’s hard enough just getting classes at the JC now,” McKeever said. “Now it’s getting harder and harder to pay for my classes and books.”
The state’s budget crisis has impacted class availability, causing SRJC to offer fewer classes and less diversity. A cut of approximately 10 percent, or 550 courses, has been implemented for the 2011/2012 school year, with non-credit courses and less mainstream classes first on the chopping block.
“We’re very concerned about our transfer courses,” said Doug Roberts, vice president of business services at SRJC. “We’ve done our best to make sure we are keeping those courses. There have been some reductions, but not nearly the kind of reductions that have been seen in our non-credit courses.”
Adding insult to injury, the current fee increases and class reductions may get worse in Spring 2012, with an estimated $4.8 million in additional mid-year cuts to the District’s budget. This could potentially create an additional enrollment fee increase from $36 to $46 per unit at the start of the Spring 2012 semester, making full-time students at SRJC pay a minimum of $552 per semester for class enrollment alone.
According to the 2011/2012 Budget Book, an additional $4 billion in state revenue improvement may or may not be available, forcing the state’s budget to be divided into three tiers dependent upon how much of the $4 billion is available.
“Regarding the $4 billion,” Roberts said, “I think [the state] knew that number was pretty fictitious, which is why they came up with the three-tier system.”
Dec. 15 is the date by which the district will know exactly how much, if any, of the $4 billion will be received. If the worst-case-scenario is actualized, which the State Chancellor’s Office predicts, Community Colleges would lose an additional $72 million, resulting in a $12.4 million budgetary shortfall for SRJC in 2011-2012.
“It’s not if we will reach the tier two scenario and maybe beyond, but when.” Roberts said.
To offset this major budgetary shortfall, SRJC will make $5.2 million in staffing reductions, $3.2 million in reductions to the fund balance and $3.8 million in salary and benefits concessions.
In these crippling economic times for California, it will be tough for SRJC students to afford classes necessary for associate degrees and transfer opportunities. But relative to other Community Colleges statewide, Santa Rosa Junior College has it better than some, Roberts said. “Because we’ve been proactive, and the fact that our negotiating groups are aware of the problem and are helping us towards solutions, we may find ourselves a little bit better off than others.”