CSUN University News Clippings

Public-school refugees find help at private colleges

(October 15, 2009)

By Matt Krupnick

Private colleges are stepping in to help students unable to take the classes they need but cannot get at California’s troubled public colleges and universities.

With budget cuts making it difficult for some students to maintain a full load of courses, some private Bay Area colleges are opening their doors to help those students remain eligible for financial aid and keep their graduation plans on track.

The University of San Francisco, for example, today will announce plans to discount some basic undergraduate classes for public-school students starting in January. The three-unit courses, which will cost $2,240 each, will be held at the university’s regional campuses in San Ramon, Cupertino, Santa Rosa and Sacramento.

Each campus will be able to serve about 250 students, said Jennifer Turpin, the university’s dean of arts and sciences.

“We’re hearing that there is all this incredible need,” she said. “To the extent we can be responsive, we will.”

The program, which primarily will rely upon full-time USF faculty, also will help the school fill unused space at the regional centers, Turpin said. The general-education courses will cost 55 percent less than usual USF classes.

Other private colleges also have reached out to students from community colleges and California State University and University of California campuses. The three systems collectively have had multibillion-dollar budget cuts over the past two years,
leading to enrollment declines and layoffs.

Saint Mary’s College in Moraga has doubled its midyear transfers — from 50 to 100 — this year to accommodate students unable to get classes at public institutions. The school also has doubled its visits to some campuses to help students unable to get counseling, said Angelica Moore, Saint Mary’s director of transfer recruitment.

“There’s a significant population of frustrated and anxious students,” she said. “They report to class at their state school only to find out they’re on a waiting list of 500 to get their first course in their major.”

The Moraga college is responding more quickly to transfer applicants in order to give them stability, she said.

“It’s just too uncertain for them and frustrating,” she said. “They’re not sure they’ll be able to finish in a timely fashion.”

Mills College in Oakland is trying to let students at several partnering colleges and universities know that they can take Mills courses for the same price as classes at their home campus. The long-running partnerships are in demand now more than ever, said Giulietta Aquino, Mills’ dean of undergraduate admissions.

“We’ve reached out to students much more aggressively,” she said.

Publication: Contra Costa Times