• Santa Ana College students mobilize to save summer school
... Budget cuts ... [at Santa Ana College] have been severe, eliminating an extra session in January and forcing more than 100 summer courses to be cut, leaving some students panicked that they won't have the classes needed to be able to transfer to a four-year school this fall or next spring.
Now, in a move both creative and desperate, students are raising money to help pay for summer classes by selling food and by pleading with politicians – and even instructors – to contribute.
For every $4,500 that students raise for the Summer Session Rescue Fund, one class for 30 students will be saved, school administrators say. The school's nonprofit arm, the Santa Ana College Foundation, has pledged to pay for any shortfall between student fundraising and a full class offering.
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The weak economy has added to the enrollment at community colleges such as the 26,000-student campus in Santa Ana. Statewide, the system is over-enrolled by about 100,000 students, according to the Community College League of California.
As the economy tanked and the budget strife in Sacramento worsened, summer classes were slashed and waiting lists for core classes grew.
"Students aren't able to get the courses they need, and for some that means they're going to turn away and won't come back; for others that means it's going to slow down their progress," said Erik Skinner, vice chancellor for fiscal policy with the California Community Colleges system.…
Times are tough. Still, the rich gather at the BBC to whine that they are paying too much in taxes.
• 'Random frenzy' damages Santa Ana landmark
• Blind students touch art at UCI
