Pasadena City College Opens at 95% Classroom Capacity

[UPDATED August 29, 2013 ]  The number of enrolled students in the Pasadena City College has jumped to 23,848 from last fall’s 20,661 students amid the cancellation of winter sessions.

Winter classes were held in PCC for the previous years to help students get the required credits they will be needing to transfer to four-year universities. The Board of Trustees unanimously voted to cancel the winter sessions last July, drawing outrage from students.

PCC has grown the number of its classes from 61,140 class seats last year to the 78,088 seats currently available. About 95 percent of the available seats this year has been occupied and around 99 percent of the English department classes have been filled, the Pasadena Star-News reported.

“We’re in growth mode,” PCC spokesman Juan Gutierrez told the newspaper. “We have more seats, more classes.”

Proposition 30, which was passed in November, has allowed PCC and other schools to increase personal and income taxes over seven years in order to help in its funding and to accommodate more students.

PCC’s hallways and walkways were filled with students and a long line of students waiting to obtain parking permits.

“It’s packed,” PCC student Lisa Ciccariello, a second -year student, told the Star-News. “I can’t even buy my books. I can’t find parking. I’m considering transferring to a lesser school that’s not so crowded.”

In addition to freshmen students, the newly-built $34.1-million Center for the Arts building, which will house all art classes offered in PCC, has also been opened for the first time for enrollment.

Pasadena City College’s 2013 fall semester will end December 15.

Academic and Career and Technical Education classes are offered on the main PCC campus and at the Community Education Center, located at 3035 E. Foothill Blvd in Pasadena. The college offers more than 60 academic areas and issues certificates in more than 70 Career and Technical Education disciplines.

Students may apply and register online, check the status of their enrollment, and learn the availability of classes via the Internet by accessing www.pasadena.edu and then logging into LancerPoint. PCC staff is available to answer any questions.

For more information, call the Office of Admissions and Records at (626) 585-7395. To register or apply online, visit the PCC website at www.pasadena.edu.