A report by the state legislative analyst recommended giving first-time college students higher priority for class registration, and putting a cap on the number of subsidized units continuing students can take, while funding comes out of taxpayers’ pockets.

According to an end-of-year analysis, this recommendation is a direct result of losing 140,045 students during the 2009-2010 year after California community colleges slashed funding 8 percent.

Implementing a 100-unit cap for students who repeat courses, according to the state fiscal and policy analyst for the legislative analyst’s office Paul Steenhausen, can save tax payers an estimated $235 million and make room for first-time students who are being turned away.

The 2009-2010 school year saw a 133,383 first-time student drop, a 13 percent drop from figures of the previous year.

“In light of the huge mismatch between demand for classes and supply of classes we just thought this was important to examine now,” Steenhausen said in a statement. “The 100-unit cap would allow for the 60 units required for transfer or degree [completion], plus a wide margin for any remedial education requirements, basic skills or enrichment.”

State Chancellor Jack Scott said the recommendation of putting a cap on students that have loaded their transcripts with poor grades, repeated courses, and more units than needed to transfer or graduate, “has merit and should be explored.”  

In 2009-2010, the state subsidized courses for about 120,000 students who had 90 or more units and more than 9,000 of these students had more than 150 accumulated units.

While Scott says that the ideas are something the LAO is working to implement, students, like ASCC Commissioner of Public Relations Jasmin Ramirez, believe the ideas are misguided and should be approached with caution.

“Things change with people’s education. [Students] are young when they come [to college], they might not know what they want to do.  Some even change their majors several times. What if someone gets bad advice from a counselor? It happens all the time. It’s not that counselors don’t give good advice, it is more of a question if they give the correct advice for the situation,” Ramirez said.

However, with the consistent drop in the percentage of undecided students in the last four years, from 18.5 percent in 2005-2006 to 17 percent in 2009-2010, and no guidelines as to when the state stops subsidization of units, students like undecided major William Abolda think there are students taking advantage of the system for financial reasons.

“I know a lot of people who just load their schedule up with classes they don’t need to get their full financial aid award,” Abolda said.  

With students like Ramirez unconvinced that a unit cap is universally beneficial, Scott believes there will be cases where exceptions will arise.

“I think we need to set a general rule and then have some means by which special cases could be considered,” Scott said.

While there is still uncertainty in how or when any of these recommendations will come into effect, if at all, Scott believes that the real issue lies with priority registration and that students with more than 100 units should be placed at the back of the line.

Cerritos College is one college of the almost 70 percent in the state that gives priority registration to continuing students.

Under the Cerritos College district procedure, continuing students have priority based on a point system that, among other things, includes GPA, unit load after last day to drop and students who are disadvantaged as defined by statute.

After students accumulate 90 units at Cerritos College, their points are reset back to zero and start all over.

“We already have a standard in place, that after 90 units you drop to the bottom.  The report is talking about 100 units, and we’ve already had that system in place for a long time. The system promotes it that the greater number of units you have to complete your degree, you have priority registration over incoming freshmen,” Cerritos College President Linda Lacy said.

Undecided major Larissa Morales thinks the solution is rather simple: “Those who have the grades and prove they want to be here should get the priority, but those who aren’t taking things seriously should move over and give other students a chance.”

While state officials attempt to make sense of the report and colleges face a proposed $400 million cut under Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget, the only thing certain thus far is even more cuts. 

Lacy estimates that, as of now, Cerritos College will see $5.8 million in cuts. She adds that if the tax extensions do not make the June ballot, Cerritos College could see up to $13 million in cuts.

“We are absolutely going to have cuts,” Lacy said, “we just have to wait until the ballot in June to find out how much.”

Assuming that the June tax package is approved by voters, state estimates predict a loss of 2,059 students.

If the June tax package fails and 22 year old Prop. 98 is funded at minimum the numbers are estimated to reach a loss of 3,622 students.