Classes Begin at Community Colleges

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Fall classes have at the nine colleges of the Los Angeles Community College District, the nation’s largest.

There are nearly 130,000 students enrolled for the fall semester, a district statement said. Eighty percent of students are from underserved populations, more than half are older than 25, and more than a quarter are 35 and older, it said.

The statement said more than two-thirds of students successfully complete their courses, with almost 15,000 earning an associate’s degree or certificate and 5,700 transferring to a University of California or Cal State campus every year.

The district, which charges $46 per unit, said a recent analysis shows that Los Angeles Trade-Technical College alumni are among the highest paid in the nation, earning a median salary of $32,000 — $64,200 with 10 years experience or more.

Next year, Los Angeles Unified School District students will be eligible to receive a year at an LACCD college tuition-free through the Los Angeles College Promise partnership, which groups the LACCD, the LAUSD, and the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.