Mt. SAC salutes Governor Schwarzenegger and legislature

With the approval of an 18-month budget plan this morning by the State Legislature, Mt. San Antonio College President Dr. John Nixon and other community college leaders are returning their focus to the mission of providing Californians the education and training they need.

"Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislative leaders who have passed this budget are to be commended," said Nixon. "In making these very difficult budget decisions, they have prioritized community college access for all types of students seeking higher education and training during these hard economic times."

The budget provides funding for 36,000 more full-time students in the state's community college system next year.  Statewide, community colleges are currently serving more than 20,000 unfunded full-time students, a trend expected to continue next year with record enrollment demand. 

"The Legislature is to be applauded for its efforts to support community colleges that must take on the many students who will be turned away from the state universities," said Nixon. "At Mt. SAC, we still have challenges of meeting growing demand, as we are educating some 2,000 credit students for whom we are not getting state funding."

Recently, Mt. SAC saw credit enrollment jump 7.2% for its winter intersession, which ended last week. Early numbers for Mt. SAC's spring semester, which begins next week, are also on the rise with credit enrollments up 5.6% over last spring.

The resolution of the budget also is expected to let community colleges get back to work shortly on $1.5 billion in capital construction projects that have been delayed.  As they construct 193 projects on 102 campuses, community colleges are putting voter-approved bond dollars to work, employing local construction workers and transforming the campuses to meet 21^st century workforce needs.

At Mt. SAC, the story is no different with the opening of its new Math and Science building this spring and several other important construction projects online.