SAN FRANCISCO — Student enrollment at California’s community colleges has fallen dramatically in recent years as campuses slashed teaching staffs and course offerings in response to unprecedented cuts in state funding, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California details the impacts of $1.5 billion in state budget cuts between 2007 and 2012 on California Community Colleges, the nation’s largest system of higher education.
During that period, enrollment within the 112-campus system dropped from 2.9 million to 2.4 million students, according to the report, which is based on official campus reports and interviews with more than 100 senior administrators.
The enrollment declines were steepest among students returning to school after an absence and first-time college students, researchers said. Enrollment of first-time students fell 5 percent even as the number of high school graduates in California rose 9 percent.
“The decline in access of first-time students is troubling, given California’s longstanding need to increase college-going rates for new high school graduates, who are the workforce for the future,” said PPIC researcher Sarah Bohn, the report’s co-author.
On the bright side, continuing students completed courses, earned passing grades and transferred to four-year institutions at higher rates, researchers said.
California’s community college system, which is known for its low fees and open-access policies, is open to nearly all adults, but in recent years campuses have been forced to turn away hundreds of thousands of students who couldn’t get into the classes they wanted.
