MISSION VIEJO : Collegians Left Out as Enrollment Jumps

A 7% jump in enrollment in the Saddleback Community College District has created overcrowded classes and barred some students from courses that they need in order to graduate.

“The impact of our increased enrollment is, I’m afraid, negative,” Chancellor Richard Sneed said. “Many of our students were unable to enroll in certain courses because all of the sections were full. And I’m talking about basic classes: English, math, science and the like.”

The district has 30,618 students enrolled in spring semester courses, compared to 28,727 at this time last year, officials said.

At Saddleback College, enrollment is 22,908, up 6% from last spring. At Irvine Valley College, the district’s other campus, enrollment is 8,522, up 10%. The numbers do not equal the district’s total enrollment because some students take classes at both campuses.

The district cannot offer more classes because the state will pay only for about two-thirds of the enrollment increase, Sneed said.

“We can’t hire more teachers because we don’t have the money,” Sneed said.

Nor can the district increase the size of its classes, Sneed said. In some cases, that is because the classroom is filled to capacity, he said.

“And we can’t let the classes become so large that it affects the class’s academic integrity,” he said. “Take a writing class, for example. A person cannot do a quality job of teaching if the number of students goes beyond a certain number.”

He said both full- and part-time students were affected by the shutdown of registration.

He said about 2,000 full-time students who wanted to take the five classes per semester needed to graduate in two years were able to take only two or three classes.

Another 4,000 people who wanted to take one or two courses were unable to register, he said.