At a time when Cabrillo College is boasting record enrollment, state budget woes are forcing Santa Cruz County’s only community college to brace for unprecedented budget cuts, according to Mary Planding, director of marketing at Cabrillo.

The cuts come in the wake of deteriorating economic conditions after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September signed the 2008 Budget Act. The state is now facing an $11.2 billion revenue shortfall, which is expected to reverberate throughout the state, affecting education, state employees and the Department of Corrections, among other things.

To help balance the state budget, Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting $332.2 million from California’s community colleges, which locally would amount to a loss of about $4 million for the 2008-09 year, and an additional $5 million in 2009-10 from Cabrillo’s general fund, Planding said.

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(Published in 12/2/08 edition)

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