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Could California college costs increase despite Prop 30?

January 21, 2013

Gov. Jerry BrownGovernor Jerry Brown proposed a budget that includes a nearly $200 million increase in community college funding, yet critics say it could actually make the system more expensive. [LA Times]

In addition to the funding increase from Proposition 30, Brown is proposing a unit cap and incentive based pay as part of a slate of changes for California’s community colleges.

The governor proposed capping the number of state-subsidized units students could take at 90. If the proposal passes, beginning next fall, students will have to pay $190 per unit as opposed to $46 once they exceed 90 units. In the 2009-2010 academic year, nearly 120,000 students had earned at least 90 units.

Many students say that the proposed unit cap would punish those who double major or explore different fields before transferring to a university or finding a job. President of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges Rich Copenhagen told the LA Times he opposes the unit cap, but expects Brown will get his way with it.

“We’re going to work very hard to get rid of this,” Copenhagen, a College of Alameda student, said. “The governor does seem to be interested in pushing through a lot of policy in this budget. He’s in a position to say I got you more money, now you need to make your system better.”

Brown also proposed distributing money to schools based on student completion of courses to provide a financial incentive for success in the classroom. The current structure allocates funds based on student enrollment at each college.

Critics say that the financial incentive could cause colleges to drop challenging courses.

Currently, 85 percent of the 2.4 million students in the state community college system need to take remedial English. Seventy-three percent need to take remedial math.

Brown’s budget also proposes spending $315 million to shift adult education from K-12 to the community college system.

Likewise, Brown has offered the idea of creating a “virtual campus” by making 250 courses available online to students statewide. His budget includes $17 million to increase the number of online classes.

 


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Econ. 101…TANSTAAFL. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.


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The California Dream Act.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_DREAM_Act


Shouldn’t be, but clearly there is a true separation of assisting those who truly NEED assistance and those who DEMAND assistance truly not needed. In my definition, this is a free lunch at the cost of the taxpayer.


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Exactly my point. A free lunch is no existent…someone ALWAYS has to pay….more often than not, we the taxpayers.


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These students that have to take remedial English and Math should pay the $190 (it was free in high school and for any student has to “re-take” a class should also pay that fee and of course after 90 units it should be $190. If you can’t figure out in 2-3 what you want to do when you “grow up”, then you pay to figure it out, not me, I already paid for 17-18 years of your eduction (2 years of pre-school, K-12 and 2-3 years of communty college). You pay the rest to figure it out!


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It would be easier just to privatize them.


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If you can not be responsible enough to achieve remedial English and remedial Math during your high

school years where i come from you would not be a candidate for college.


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Schools are businesses. Raising the standards would mean less students would qualify, thus hurting the bottom line.


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Only in a system granted monopoly privileges.


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Guess what everyone. You have been duped again.


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As if we did not see this coming from a mile away, this is only the beginning for the democRATS and their borrowing, spending, and taxing.


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No surprise here. Academic administrators are the ones who slice the pie. Prop 30 gave administrators a bigger pie to slice; they’re apparently slicing it in the same way that led to budget problems in the first place. No accountability. No transparency.


We need more teachers, not more administrators and higher salaries for existing administrators. There must be some union people who read this site. Why don’t you union people get off your butts and sponsor a state proposition that rolls back administrative costs to the same percentage of eduction costs as they were in 1990? Such a move would go a long way to salvaging the CA education system.


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You on the right track, jimmy_me, but why stop there? Privatize them! That will FORCE reform to what the consumers demand of them.


There is no other way to accomplish this.


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Brown is still the same old brown. Liberal filling of the pockets of Sac. What else is new. Cronies will stick together much better than we do when voting. We complain but do nothing. Why do students need dumbbell English and dumbbell math? What happened in high school?


Might as well send kids from 8th grade right into college. 8th graders that pass English and math that is.


Blessings


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OF COURSE everything is going up! Did you really think Prop. 30 was going to solve everything? Once it passed the Democrats were talking about how to spend that money, including providing free cell phones to the homeless and reinstating Denti-Cal, free dental care for indigent adults! The promise of Prop. 30 wasn’t to help schools, it was to keep from cutting their budgets! Duh! Of course it’s all going up!


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look how well K-12 did:


“Currently, 85 percent of the 2.4 million students in the state community college system need to take remedial English. Seventy-three percent need to take remedial math.” Maybe that should the double major for the professional student.


“Critics say that the financial incentive could cause colleges to drop challenging courses.”….like remedial English & Math?


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Welcome to Gov Brown’s new CA.


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