ARNOLD PLAN GIVES LOCAL COLLEGE $2.8 MILLION.

Byline: Daily News

VALENCIA -- College of the Canyons, one of the state's fastest-growing community colleges, would get about $2.8 million for growth under the governor's budget.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $109.1 million budget for two-year colleges includes a 2 percent increase in funding for enrollment growth. The money would allow colleges to add more class sections and provide additional services to handle the growing numbers.

While more than half of the 72 community college districts in the state are seeing declining enrollment, College of the Canyons has more than 18,000 students and shows increasing growth yearly.

Student enrollment fees will remain the same as last semester -- $20 per unit, a $6-per-unit decrease from a year ago.

The proposed budget also includes a 4.04 percent cost-of-living adjustment, which would amount to $2.4 million for College of the Canyons for the 2007-08 fiscal year.

The budget is preliminary. It will be adjusted after tax-receipt revenue is reviewed in April, and a new draft will be submitted in May for the Legislature.