It’s been a few long, lean years, but San Diego county’s community colleges are starting up summer classes again next month, after several summers when all but a handful of classes were eliminated due to budget concerns.
This means students will be able to graduate or transfer faster, said Jack Beresford with the San Diego Community College District. The past few years have been difficult, because the district has been operating summer classes at a bare minimum, which means many students have either dropped out or gone on to other districts that offer the courses they need, he said.
“There was just a handful of classes offered the last couple of years, but this is what we would consider a nearly fully restored summer session, with about a thousand classes being offered throughout the district,” Beresford said.
The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District was affected too, although the initial cuts were less harsh. Spokesperson Anne Krueger said the benefits of more summer and intersession classes extend beyond graduating sooner.
“Some of these classes are smaller than during the year, so they can get more intimate teaching experience,” Krueger said.
Also, she said, students sometimes find summer classes offered that might not have fit in their schedules before
Both the San Diego Community College District and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District credit Proposition 30’s passage in 2012 with helping ease the pain of budget cuts.
Proposition 30 temporarily increased some taxes specifically to compensate for education budget shortfalls.
