LBCC Tiered Tuition Scheme Scam Makes Front Page at the Los Angeles Times

As long as the State of California remains ostensibly committed to the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education any two-tiered tuition scheme's a perverted scam. That was basically my argument when I spoke last semester at the campus progressives' discussion on the "privatization of education." (The event video is here, "LBCC - United States of ALEC, Part 1.") (Interestingly, the whole deal was an anti-Koch brothers bash-fest, although there's no evidence that the Kochs helped pass the tiered-tuition legislation. More interestingly, I was invited to speak because the campus progs thought I'd parrot some alleged right-wing talking points on "privatization." The dopes, lulz. Perhaps there's some utility in developing more rational, cost-based pricing systems for the community colleges, but as long as the state says it's still committed to "open access" higher education --- which when I attended Santa Ana College in the late-'70s was just $5.00 for a student health fee --- then I'm not going to endorse a policy that's essentially predicated on lies.)

Another point I make (at the end of my discussion at the clip) is that the policy's largely an in-house career boosting bid for LBCC Superintendent-President Eloy Oakley. He lacks a Ph.D., so if he ever hopes to move on to another college, he'll need some dramatic policy innovations to augment his measly creds.

It's all a scam. Oakley nearly admits so much at the Los Angeles Times today, "Long Beach City College experiments with tiered pricing":

Educators and experts say colleges nationwide may be watching the Long Beach experiment, one of the only such programs in the country, as a way to get around budget cuts and high demand for required courses.

The five higher-priced winter courses at Long Beach included offerings in environmental science and geography. The college had to cancel a business course because of lack of interest. Four of the courses are needed to fulfill requirements in a major or to transfer.

College President Eloy Ortiz Oakley said he wasn't concerned that some of the classes didn't reach capacity. The school didn't have much time to plan which courses to offer.

"We're going to learn as we go," he said.

The college also couldn't offer in-demand lower-level math and reading courses during the winter session because it is too short. Those courses may be available at a higher cost during the longer summer session, although Oakley said he was unsure how long the school would continue the pilot program.

Critics decry the idea, saying it gives wealthier students an unfair advantage.

"It creates two types of students: those who can pay and those who cannot. And it's unfair to the students who have to feed families and are unemployed," said Andrea Donado, the student representative on the Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees.

"Philosophically it is the mission of our community colleges to provide accessible education. By making some courses [more expensive], that equality is no longer honored," said Lynette Nyaggah, president of the Community College Assn., which represents faculty and staff throughout the state.

Oakley, meanwhile, defends the tiered pricing option, saying that it's a way to offer students more choices and that he was surprised by the outrage over it.

"If our college can provide a solution — that may not be an optimal solution but gives our students options — then we're going to keep doing that," he said.

Yeah, who knows who long this will continue, but as long as Eloy gets his name in the paper it's all good!