Norphesa Jones rises before dawn twice a week to take a 6 a.m. physical education class at Southwest College, just blocks from her home in South Los Angeles.
She then takes a bus to the Green Line, catches the train and another bus to Los Angeles Trade Tech downtown for an 8:30 a.m. math class. Jones then backtracks to Southwest for a personal development class that begins at 11:10 a.m.
Shuttling 20 miles between campuses isn't by choice: The math class she needed wasn't offered at Southwest.
"There have been times when I've sat in the room before class and cried, ready to quit because I don't want to do this anymore," said Jones, a 34-year-old wife and mother of three who hopes to become a nurse. "But then I think, why stop now because another way seems like it may be easier."
She is part of a growing number of community college students statewide who have been forced to travel long distances by bus, car and train to get the classes they need after budget cuts resulted in course reductions systemwide.
Over two decades, the percentage of such students has more than doubled, from about 2.2% in 1992 to about 5.2% in 2011. Last fall, about 69,665 students attended two schools, nearly 5,000 went to three schools and about 400 to four or five schools, according to data from the California Community Colleges chancellor's office. (The numbers include students who take online classes; officials are unsure how many are in that category.)
Most two-year colleges have also eliminated winter and summer sessions, further reducing the availability of classes students need to earn a degree or transfer to a four-year university. Some high-demand classes are offered only once during the academic year, leaving students with a stark choice: Wait and delay their education or shop around and find the course elsewhere.
Some college administrators say students taking classes at multiple campuses are displacing local students. Those officials are considering ways to curb the practice, such as giving local students priority enrollment for a period of time.
Colleges are in a tough spot, having to manage shrinking budgets while still providing the range of classes students need to obtain degrees or transfer.
"Schools want students to have sufficient courses, but ultimately students have to find their way through in one shape or form," said Patrick C. Perry, the system's vice chancellor of technology, research and information systems.
For Christina Atoyan, that means English class at Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen on Monday and Wednesdays. Biology at Valley on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays. Statistics at Pierce College in Woodland Hills on Mondays and Wednesdays, plus an online speech class.
Later this month, she will begin a history class via video lectures offered by Mission College in Sylmar. The class includes a weekend session at one of four colleges.
The political science major wants to transfer to UCLA next fall. But she's been stymied getting into all the classes she needs at one campus.
The drive from Valley to Pierce takes about a half-hour on the 101 Freeway, and more in traffic. The commute costs her valuable study time, which she tries to cram in on the weekends. Last summer she took classes at East Los Angeles College, more than an hour's drive from her North Hollywood home.
She hears about the teacher layoffs and other effects of budget cuts in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where her mother works. But she and just about all of her friends are feeling the pressures firsthand in California's community college system, she said.
"I just want to transfer, to do what I want to do in life," said Atoyan, 20. "Go to UCLA, get a degree, become politically active and then go to law school."
Valley College geography professor Donald J. Gauthier estimates that about half of the students in his environmental studies class are enrolled at more than one campus. They sometimes come in late or need to leave early and ask that the time isn't counted against their grade. He tries to fill time before the main lecture to accommodate them.
But Gauthier, who is president of the Academic Senate, said there are broader issues for the nine-campus Los Angeles Community College District, which is the largest in the nation.
Colleges prepare their class schedules independently and don't know how many resources to devote to programs when students come from other campuses in the district. Gauthier said it's not fair to local students who can't commute when someone with higher-priority registration from another campus takes their place in crowded classes.
Also, research by the district has found that students who commute to multiple campuses do worse academically than their peers who attend one college.
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