College creating cut list

The Coast Community College District expects to cut $20 million from its 2009-10 budget as the state prepares to make massive trims in education funding.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut $781 million in community college funding statewide and not reimburse some lost property tax revenues will take roughly $20 million from the district, which includes Orange Coast and Coastline Community colleges, with campuses in Costa Mesa, and Golden West College in Huntington Beach, officials said.

In addition to those cuts, the governor has proposed eliminating the CalGrant program and other sources of student financial aid, and the legislative analyst’s office has proposed increasing community college tuition from $20 per unit to $50 or $60 per unit.

“We certainly would not minimize the fact that these proposals are going to cause difficulty at the district level,” said state Deputy Director of Finance H.D. Palmer. “That said, the scope and severity of this recession has forced us to put a variety of difficult proposals on the table that we wouldn’t have done even when we did the budget back in February.”

Golden West President Wes Bryan said raising tuition is another way of squeezing students.

“It allows politicians to say we won’t cut enrollment, but we’re going to tax your students, which will cut enrollment,” he said.

Palmer said the CalGrant cuts, in particular, would have been “unthinkable” four months ago.

District officials said the state’s cuts come at the worst possible time because state universities are rejecting more students, and unemployed workers are heading back to school.

District financial analysts have been compiling a list of potential cuts to make up the projected $20 million in lost revenue.

Golden West has been working to avoid making large cuts in the fall and spring semester by cutting summer session by 50%, and winter intersession will most likely be cut altogether, Bryan said.

“There are things we are still trying to do,” Bryan said. “We are trying to protect fall and spring here.”

Coast Community College District Board Chairman Jim Moreno criticized the state measures, saying they “balanced the budget on the backs of our students.”

Bryan also said the new measures, if enacted, would be tough on students.

“They’re going to raise the tuition and cut the budget at the same time, so the students pay more but get a little less,” he said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].