State funding can't keep up with burgeoning enrollment, so thousands are turned away. Minorities and poor students are likely to be the hardest hit.
By ANITA KUMAR
Published September 17, 2003
About 35,000 students expecting to enroll in Florida's community colleges this fall were shut out because the schools could not afford to offer them classes they need.
It's the most serious enrollment crisis to hit the community college system in decades. Many of the affected students dropped out of school. Others took classes that didn't fit their major, slowing their path to graduation.
Officials at the 28 community colleges will try to contact the students and encourage them to return for the spring semester, when there may be more seats available.
Educators say those hardest hit by the state budget shortfall are likely to be minority and poor students, who often register late. In Florida, about 80 percent of the minority students in their freshmen or sophomore years are enrolled in the community college system.
David Armstrong, chancellor of the state community college system, said the system could see an overall dip in minority enrollment this year.
"It is a significant issue," Armstrong said. "Clearly, we are the first access point for minority students."
Despite the problems, total enrollment in the state's community colleges increased this fall by 5.8 percent, or about 48,000 students. But officials estimate another 4.2 percent - or 35,000 students - would have enrolled if they could have gotten classes they needed.
The budget crunch also is swelling class sizes. Classes that had only 20 students last year now have 30 or more. And some students lost their financial aid because they couldn't register for enough courses.
The state's largest community college, Miami-Dade College, turned away 9,500 students. At Broward Community College, about 3,000 students couldn't find room in classes they need. Valencia Community College in Orlando didn't take about 3,200 students.
The situation wasn't quite as bad at the three community colleges in the Tampa Bay area.
St. Petersburg College increased its number of classes by 3 percent, but enrollment rose by 9 percent. Pasco-Hernando Community College also added a handful of new classes, and could have added three times as many. Together, the two schools shut out just more than 1,000 students.
Hillsborough Community College did not add any new classes, though officials estimate they would need to add at least 41 more remedial classes for 1,025 students. Officials there could not say how many students left school.
"This is the most frustrating registration I've seen," said Paul Szuch, vice president for educational services at Pasco-Hernando Community College.
Under state law, Florida's community colleges must admit most students with a high school diploma.
But state budget cuts have made that impossible.
"We're supposed to take everyone we can," said Larry Keen, associate vice president at Sante Fe Community College in Gainesville. "We're not fulfilling our mission as mandated by the state. We're turning people away. It's getting progressively worse."
In May, the Legislature sliced $11-million from the community college budget and provided no money for the estimated 57,000 new students expected to enroll.
Paying for that growth would have cost the state $50-million, and community colleges can't cover that bill.
"We are failing to provide instruction and training," said Dennis Gallon, president of Palm Beach Community College.
"Students are not able to go into the world of work and be competitive. That is what makes this devastating for Florida's economy."
Registration, which began in the spring, is generally on a first-come, first-serve basis. In recent years, students have been able to get into classes, but not always the ones they wanted or at the times they needed. This year, however, many students found themselves shut out of all classes.
The biggest problems are in remedial classes and general education classes needed for graduation.
Most schools didn't add classes this fall, though some used revenue from a 7.5 percent tuition increase to add a limited number.
Miami-Dade College, for example, added 675 classes and still had to turn away 9,500 students.
"All the classes that I need to graduate are full," said Blanca Betancourt, who works full time and tries to attend Miami-Dade College part time in the evenings. "It's very distressing."
The cuts continue a painful trend for the community college system, which enrolls about 830,000 students. While enrollment increased 27.5 percent between 2000 and 2003, its portion of the state budget grew just 1.8 percent.
"We have significant enrollment problems," said Harry Albertson, executive director of the Florida Association of Community Colleges. "I don't know how we're going to serve all our students."
Class crunch
About 35,000 students were shut out of community colleges in Florida this fall because the schools did not receive enough state money to offer them classes. Ten of those schools are listed below, along with the estimated number of students that were shut out.
Miami-Dade College: 9,500
Broward Community College: 3,000
Tallahassee Community College: 50 to 100
Palm Beach Community College: 535 to 750
Indian River Community College: 600
Sante Fe Community College: 500 to 600
Valencia Community College: 3,200
St. Petersburg College: 800
Hillsborough Community College: NA
Pasco-Hernando Community College: 245
Sources: Colleges, Florida Department of Education
