About Prop 92

• Lowers fees to $15 a unit
• Limits future fee increases
• Provides stable funding for community colleges for more classes and services
• Guarantees that the community college system is independent from state politics
• Does not hurt K-12 funding or raise taxes

California Community Colleges prepare students for four-year college, provide workplace skills and life-long learning skills, increase community economic development and provide instruction in basic skills for those who lack them.

Proposition 92 - the California Community College Initiative - will enhance this mission by lowering fees to $15 per unit - ensuring that community colleges are affordable. It also limits the rise in future fees to the cost of living. It provides stable funding for California community colleges. In addition, it guarantees that the community college system is independent from state politics.

Proposition 92 provides stable, affordable and predictable student fees by lowering fees to $15 per unit and limiting future fee increases to no more than the cost of living. When the Legislature doubled student fees in 2003-04, they also cut the state’s contribution to community colleges by an equal amount. This meant that the community colleges were no better off and that the students paid more. It also meant that once again the students were pawns in the budget battle. In 2004, when fees were hiked, 305,000 fewer students in California enrolled. Now that fees are starting to stabilize, we are starting to see community college enrollment increase across the state. Recent projections from the California Postsecondary Education Commission suggest that by the year 2010, 500,000 - 700,000 additional applicants will be heading to higher education – likely three-fourths of them to community colleges. We need to ensure the community colleges are ready for this surge.

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About Community Colleges

• Community colleges are affordable and accessible. Low student fees and financial aid have made community colleges a gateway to a better life for millions of Californians.
• More than 70% of students taking college classes in California are taking them at community colleges.
• Two-thirds of CSU graduates and one-third of UC graduates begin their college careers at a community college.

• Reducing fees helps give every Californian a chance to go to college.
• In 2004 when fees were raised to $26 per unit, 305,000 fewer students than expected enrolled.
• Community college students who earned a vocational degree or certificate saw their wages increase almost 90 percent after earning their degree.
• By making college education even more affordable, students will have increased opportunities to pursue degrees or enhanced workforce training, thereby making a better life for themselves and their families. 

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