Gov. Jerry Brown approved Assembly Bill 955 Oct. 10, which will offer additional core classes at six California community colleges during the summer and winter intersessions at a significantly higher cost per unit.
AB 955 will add extension courses for general education classes that will cost the same per unit as non-residents on campuses, which the Legislative Counsel of the State of California says cost around $200 per unit.
Pierce College, along with all schools in the LACCD, are not currently offering these courses.
The six schools that are a part of the preliminary pilot program are: College of the Canyons, Crafton Hills College, Long Beach City College, Oxnard College, Pasadena City College and Solano Community College.
Reactions to the bill are mixed – some think it would be great and reduce the load of students trying to get core classes, while others believe it would create precedence for unfair singling out of certain students.
Cynthia Herbst, an American Sign Language instructor at Pierce, is curious to see if the bill will alleviate crowding in normal classes by opening up the additional classes for those who can afford it.
“I say give it a shot and see what happens,” Herbst said. “I have a feeling it will only open another avenue for taking classes.”
One additional benefit is that Veterans can write off the cost for these classes under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, a bill that provides certain veterans financial support in education and housing for their service post 9/11.
But Yeprem Davoodian, a communications studies professor at Pierce, who used to work at Santa Monica College and saw the beginnings of the bill there, is against the idea of preferential treatment for some students over others.
“It’s hard for our students to pay for it now,” Davoodian said. “Every student should have equal access and not be weeded out because they can’t afford it.”
Omid Haghnegahdar, a student at Pierce, believes the bill doesn’t make much sense cost-wise for community college students, as some can’t afford to go elsewhere for their education.
“If it is self-sustaining, then there isn’t a problem,” Haghnegahdar said. “If you’re paying that much though, you might as well be going elsewhere.”
The community college campuses included in the bill have the option to set pilot programs in place to see how the bill will fare within the schools, with students and with staff in a real environment.
After this trial period, schools will be able to decide if they want to put the same programs into effect on their campuses.