First, whenever there is an economic downturn, community college enrollments increase significantly. Unlike our state universities, community colleges have open enrollments. Many newly unemployed people choose to attend a local college to improve job skills or to prepare to move into another field.

It is perhaps the only "benefit" to an economic downturn - a fresh occupational start for thousands of Californians.

Cutting budgets while enrollments are increasing is unfair to the colleges and an unwise economic decision for the state.

"When the economy goes into a downturn, it becomes all the more critical for us to train the taxpayers of tomorrow," said Craig Petinak, a spokesman for San Bernardino Valley College, where enrollment is up 8 percent compared to a year ago.

And with Cal State University campuses cutting off admissions earlier this year because of their own budget problems, applicants who are left out will turn to community colleges.

Second, the California community college system educates and trains more than a million students each year in what is the least expensive higher education tuition option in the country. It is also one of the cheapest higher education systems to operate on a per-student basis. It works. It's high quality and inexpensive.

It costs Californians roughly 10 times as much for each student at a University of California campus, and five times as much for those who attend a Cal State University, as it does for those who go to community college. And a larger percentage of community college students are Californians than at UC or CSU campuses.

Students who complete a community college degree can transfer to a UC or CSU, saving the student - and the state - up to 90 percent of the cost of two years at a university.

Third, many community college offerings are linked directly to local needs, such as nursing, auto and truck maintenance, child care and many others. They offer the quickest, cheapest and most effective way to provide locally needed skills in a way that is convenient and workable for students.

Money spent on community colleges is money well spent, and money that produces the most direct return to California. Community colleges are the most direct link between skilled workers and jobs; many programs are designed to produce specific, needed job skills in one or two years.

Instead of cutting community college budgets, the state should consider raising tuition and offering more scholarships for those who need them; and increasing funding specifically for job retraining or job preparation programs.

San Bernardino County Sun, Opinion, March 1, 2008.