Hey, what about us? The outlook for young people has changed dramatically since the dot-com bust. Hey, what about us? The outlook for young people has changed dramatically since the dot-com bust. (March 24, 2004)

With education cutbacks, outsourcing and a flat economy, the young face new choices and challenges. One result: new roles for community colleges.

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

After he graduates in June, Woodside High School senior Kenny Lavoie plans to major in music at California State University Hayward, he hopes. It may not happen.

Suppose Kenny met all of Hayward's requirements but because of budget cutbacks at the state level, the school denied him entrance until his junior year, suggesting instead that he attend a local community college tuition-free for two years.

Canada College in Woodside offers many courses, including several in music, but when he transferred to Hayward he would have a lot of catching up to do. While at Canada, he'd miss out on advanced music theory, intermediate piano classes, score reading and keyboard sight-reading, according to assist.org, a Web site that cross-references colleges and majors with transferable credits.

Hayward also offers private lessons and performance ensemble classes at no extra charge during the first two years, a school spokeswoman said.

For many graduating seniors, such a scenario could become real if a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is enacted by the state Legislature. The plan would restrict access to UC and CSU campuses and redirect about 7,000 high-school students from the class of 2004 to community colleges, according to Steve Boilard, a higher education specialist with the office of the state Legislature's impartial analyst.

When combined with restrictions from the Legislature that limit enrollment growth at UC and CSU campuses, this number could rise to 15,000 freshmen excluded next year, Mr. Boilard says. About 11 percent of freshmen would be excluded, using admission statistics from the 2002-03 school year.

"Being in the music program for only two years instead of four years will make a big difference," Kenny said in response to questions posed by the Almanac to senior economics classes at Woodside. "I really don't want to think about what difference it will make."

But he said he appreciates the dimensions of the problem. "As for what the governor and the Legislature should do, I don't know. ... California is getting deeper and deeper in debt. It doesn't seem like there are lot of choices for what to do about the deficits."

In addition to state budget deficit problems, there are other concerns that may directly affect education and employment opportunities for the class of 2004.

Outsourcing -- the transfer of jobs offshore -- is picking up steam as low wages and an increasingly competitive Asian workforce lure American businesses overseas in search of higher profits.

Nationally, an economic recovery is showing productivity gains but not many new jobs. Federal budget deficits are skyrocketing. The local Silicon Valley economy, once the stuff of dreams, is now a shadow of its former self.

When it comes to career decisions, whether white collar or blue, what is a young person to think?

Rosa Perez, the president of Canada College, has some thoughts on such matters, given the central role community colleges are poised to play as students of all types come to grips with career plans in highly uncertain times.

Education for all?

California's Master Plan for Education, updated in 2002, calls for community colleges to be open to "all high-school graduates and adults who can benefit from post-secondary instruction."

Come September, there will be room for about 33,000 students on community college campuses, says Mr. Boilard. Under the governor's proposal, about 7,000 of those spaces could be taken by freshmen accepted at a UC or CSU school but redirected to a community college, with free tuition and the guarantee of a seat in a UC or CSU school after two years.

That would mean 7,000 fewer seats for the everyday student population at the state's 108 community college campuses: students without the resources to attend a four-year school, unemployed or under-employed adults seeking retraining, and adults signing up for personal enrichment classes.

The first thing to go would be the personal enrichment classes, to be replaced with academic classes, Ms. Perez says. The problem then becomes finding the money to staff the new classes at the same level as the existing classes. Academic classes could stratify into those with desirable teachers and those without.

While the redirected UC and CSU freshmen would have free tuition, there is no guarantee that they could get the classes they want at community college. Students with prior credits have the first choice of classes and all freshmen are equals, says Patrick Perry, a vice-chancellor in the California Community College chancellor's office.

At Canada, academic classes were fully enrolled this year, Ms. Perez says, and should be so next fall as well.

The other big factor weighing on students is the cost of going to school, Ms Perez says. In the typical community college population, many students have no other higher education options. The governor's proposal would raise their fees dramatically.

For students without bachelor's degrees, the cost per unit, now $18, would rise to $26, up 44 percent. A full load for one year is 24 units, or $624.

Anyone with a bachelor's degree would pay $50 per unit, a 177 percent jump from $18 last year. About 22 percent of Canada's students have bachelor's degrees. "Without a doubt, the mood on campus is very concerned," says Ms. Perez.

At Canada, immigrants make up a large percentage of the low-income students and many are underemployed, working as house cleaners, gardeners and in retail. As college students, "they're legitimately trying not to become a drain on society," Ms. Perez says.

"We have the (physical) capacity and the desire to do more, but it's going to take some planning," she says. The people behind the governor's proposal "are not being thoughtful" about the traffic jam the proposal could create, she says.

There should be a five-year plan, she says, with extensive coordination between UC, CSU, community colleges and high schools. "What I resent is this sloppy, slap-at-it (approach)," she says.

The governor has a worthy goal that could eventually maximize access to students and provide cost-effective higher education, she says. "What I'm saying is that I can't do it by next (school) year."

Getting past ego

Increased costs, competition for classes, and/or the prospect of waiting two years before arriving on a UC or CSU campus may be traumatic for some students. "It's going to be kicking and screaming for these kids if they get rejected" from UC or CSU, Ms. Perez says.

In an informal Almanac poll of 81 seniors in economics classes at Woodside High School, about 80 percent disliked the idea of attending a community college.

"I think that if a student is ready to go away for four years, then they should be given the chance," said Woodside senior Adena Miller. "There is nothing wrong with community college, but for me, I want to be part of the whole freshman thing where everyone doesn't know anyone and you meet new friends. It is part of the whole college life."

Many parents also perceive community colleges as a lesser choice, Ms. Perez says. "I know that the public isn't there yet," she says. "I want them, eventually, over time, ... to get adjusted and accept it." Toward that end, she plans to have lots of parent nights with faculty members present.

Community college, says Ms. Perez, can provide a better education than lower-division classes at UC and CSU schools -- where the classroom is often an amphitheater with a teaching assistant behind the podium. Freshman classes at Canada tend to be small and taught by professors with Ph.D.s, she says. Such classes include math, business, English, history, Spanish and basic architecture.

Ms. Perez is an advocate for restructuring California's higher education system so that all lower-division classes are taught at community colleges. Her message: "Enroll in a community college and let your ego take a break."

Shifting sands

Global competition is becoming an increasingly tangible aspect of everyday life as American companies move parts of their operations off-shore. California community colleges -- whose mission statement still includes language about vocational training -- was once a resource to help the workforce cope with change.

Today, to maintain accreditation, community colleges must focus on general education courses that are transferable to four-year schools, Ms. Perez says. "We have nothing in electives," she says, adding that to create any, she'd have to cut English-as-a-second-language classes.

If she had her way, Canada would have apprenticeship courses in areas such as engineering technology and carpentry. An apprentice carpenter, she says, would clearly benefit from classes in drafting, computer-aided design, basic architecture, tool use and math.

"It's the kind of thing we could do (training for) where there are jobs," she says. "I worry a lot about young men. The male participation in colleges and universities has been on the decline for the last 10 years. Boys are not going to college. They're not drawn to it. I think we're abandoning them."

During a classroom discussion, Menlo-Atherton High School senior Mike Peck points out that M-A -- unlike Palo Alto High -- does not have an auto body shop. "I'd really be into it." Unlike history classes, said classmate Nick Vallarino, shop classes would actually teach students some practical skills.

But today, the curriculum tends toward transferable general education courses, says Ms. Perez. She says the colleges in the state are too burdened by regulations and that there's not enough imaginative thinking.

She says she's looking for corporations interested in sponsoring more vocational training on campus. "I think everything should be on the table," she says. "It should be one big 'What if?' Maybe this governor has the courage to do this."

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