Nicole Rodriguez has been waiting a year to get into Pima Community College’s nursing program. But she’s running out of patience.
The Tucson-based Hispanic-serving institution has nearly 340 people on the waiting list to get into the program. The next available semester is spring 2011, according to the college, but Rodriguez, 24, says she was told she would have to wait three years to get admitted. She told Diverse she lost her original place on the list because she did not immediately respond to an email from the school asking her if she wanted to stay on it.
“So I’m probably starting all over again, which makes me really upset,” Rodriguez adds. “If all else fails, I’ll probably end up going to another school in another state that doesn’t have three-year waiting lists.”
Students are swarming to community colleges to learn new skills that will help them land a job in today’s tight economy. But some experts worry that community colleges – known as open access institutions – might start turning students away because the schools do not have enough space and lack the funding to handle the onslaught of new students.
At the core of a community college’s mission is not to turn any student away. But that is getting tougher to do, administrators say. As a result, many of these colleges now have waiting lists, especially for popular disciplines like nursing and other health-related programs.
Some schools are requiring students to wait an average of one to two years for these classes; others, like Pima, have had eight-year waiting lists that officials have now shaved down to about two to three years.
Budgets cut as enrollments swell
Arizona, in particular, has been hit hard by a state budget crunch, and community colleges are especially feeling the pinch. The state cut Pima Community College’s budget by 26 percent. At the same time, Pima Community College reported a 7-percent enrollment increase this semester as compared to spring 2008. School officials here say they might be forced to start shutting the door on new students.
