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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Area Colleges Face Deep Cuts

The San Fernando Valley’s largest public colleges and universities are facing some of the toughest challenges in years amid steep budget cutbacks that are forcing layoffs, the elimination of hundreds of classes, a cap on enrollment and big tuition hikes. “We know from students what we need to be doing, we just can’t provide it right now,” said A. Susan Carleo, president of Los Angeles Valley College, the third largest school on The San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s Largest Colleges and Universities List. “It’s heart breaking.” Carleo and many other public university leaders are witnessing daily protests on their campuses by students angry about the latest cutbacks. Dressed in black and carrying a coffin, students at Los Angeles Valley College staged a “funeral for higher education” last week as they called on their fellow classmates to “fight for their education.” “If we don’t fight for it, no one will,” said Marcos Perez, 22, a political science major. Valley College faces a $4 million cut next year if voters don’t pass a ballot initiative that would raise taxes to support higher education. The cuts will reduce the school’s budget to $44 million, $11 million below its 2008 budget, Carleo said. Layoffs and a hiring freeze have brought employment to 435 people, down from 500 a few years ago, she added. Class size has increased to an average of 40 while the number of classes being offered has dropped to 1,200 a semester from 1,500 a few years ago, she said. The tough decisions have locked thousands of students out of classes they need to transfer to four-year colleges. Carleo said it’s not uncommon for students to drive from one community college to another in the Valley to fulfill their requirements. At Pierce College, the story is much the same. The school faces $7 million in cuts next year which would slash its budget to $51 million. If left unchanged, the reduction will mean about 100 fewer sections of needed classes in core subjects such as English and math. “It means that students trying to be transfer-ready are being delayed,” said Anna Davies, vice president of academic affairs. Because students can’t get the classes they need, a two-year degree is now taking an average student three to four years to complete, she said. The situation is often hardest on entering freshmen, who lack the seniority to register for classes. “They are often left with few options,” Davies said. “They simply cannot get in. Classes are full by the time they get around to register.” The schools have also cut library hours, tutoring and many other support services, administrators said. At Pierce, five deans now do the work of three, Davies added. What makes the latest cuts especially painful is that they come after years of declining budgets, said Harry Hellenbrand, interim president of California State University, Northridge, which tops the List. The school faces a $17 million cut next year, a decrease of roughly 7.5 percent in its budget. “Each year it gets harder and harder,” Hellenbrand said. He called the cuts “Katrina’s younger sister.” The situation is not as bad as two years ago, when Northridge was forced to furlough staff and decrease enrollment by 3 percent, he said. The school will be able to keep enrollment at about 36,000 students this time, he said. But to cope with the cutbacks, the school will have to severely restrict students who apply from outside the Los Angeles region. Like other state universities, Northridge will not accept new students in the spring semester. That move doesn’t necessarily save the school money, he said. But it does allow current students to register for classes without new students competing for those spots, he said. All three leaders said they desperately hope taxpayers will approve a ballot initiative to raise taxes in November. But they are all preparing for a worst-case scenario. University leaders said the cuts hurt more than students. Businesses, too, will be affected by the disinvestment in education, Carleo said. “They are going to find that qualified, trained graduates are a scarce commodity.” Download the 2012 VALLEY’S COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES list (pdf)

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