By Guest Commentary By Danny Grace
At first glance, Gov. Schwarznegger’s plan to divert 7,000 qualified University of California and Cal State applicants to community colleges appears to come down hard on the universities, the state and the diverted applicants alike.
The universities will lose state funding as a result of squeezed freshman classes. Those concerned for the state’s future fear the long-term consequences, since UC officials expect that 80 percent of the diverted applicants will opt to attend college out of state. And students with near-perfect high school transcripts and test scores are left to wonder what else they could have done.
But this budget-cutting tactic will have its harshest effect on the community college system and its students. To this point, Schwarzenegger has largely pleased community college officials. His proposed 2004-05 budget calls for a $5.3 billion (4.4 percent) increase in community college program funding, even as most other aspects of the state budget suffer cuts. Current program Chancellor Mark Drummond glowed at the time of the budget’s release: “Thank you, Gov. Schwarzenegger, for giving us a budget that will help our colleges begin to restore needed classes and services so that more Californians have a choice about how they are going to determine their future.”
As Schwarzenegger’s higher education plan has moved more squarely into light, however, officials have been less complimentary, concerned that an influx of new students will put heavy strain on an already overpopulated system. But an increase in students is the least of the problems this plan presents for community colleges. The issue is less about a negative effect on resources and more about a negative effect on morale, and not just the morale of the diverted applicants.
College admission in America has become a high stakes game. David Denby observes in his recent book “American Sucker” that having an overachieving child has become another luxury item for many middle-and upper middle-class Americans. Like houses and cars, adults compare their offspring’s high school resumes, sparking envy and putting more pressure on their children to succeed. For the students, even those without pressuring parents, the high school academic landscape becomes extremely competitive, with college admission serving as the ultimate, end-all image assessment, a powerful benchmark for how students view other students, and more importantly, how they view themselves.
Community college has become the sanctuary for students who don’t necessarily excel in an ultra-competitive environment. Most graduated from high school, but neither failed to gain admission to a four-year college nor failed to gain the necessary scholarships. At community college, these students obtain a reasonably priced education in a less frenzied environment than in the advanced classes at their high schools; and after two years, they can transfer to a university. Santa Monica College boasts the largest number of UC transfers of any community college in the state.
Schwarzenegger’s plan insults community colleges by its handling of the diverted applicants. Applicants aren’t merely rejected, they’re sent letters guaranteeing them later admission to four-year schools if they go to community colleges free of charge. In effect, they are told they are better than the school they are about to attend, as well as the other students who attend that school. Would-be community college successes will have inserted above them in their classroom curves easily identifiable (the gossip of who is and isn’t paying fees will spread fast) disillusioned over-achievers, disgruntled with the system for the first time in their lives. They will rack up As, but not without rolling their eyes at the school in the process.
On the other end of the classroom curves will be the usual array of students unhappy with school in general and ready to drop out at a moment’s notice. Traditionally successful community college students will face negativity on both sides.
Community college students are typically a capricious bunch. The difference between a transfer and a drop-out is often subtle. This is why even the smallest fee increase — Schwarzenegger’s plan calls for an increase of $18 to $26 a unit — makes a significant difference. An extra $100 per semester can mean a lot to someone toeing the line.
Poisoning the academic environment even slightly by increasing competition and resentment will have a profoundly negative effect on community colleges, and by extension, the future of the state.
Schwarzenegger’s plan will save some quick cash, but supporters of community colleges must be vocal about their opposition to extending this plan into future years — 2004 must be the exception, not the rule. (Danny Grace is a UCLA graduate and former columnist for the Santa Monica College Corsair student newspaper. He can reached at)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 12, 2004. Read the original PDF.