It’s no secret that times are tough in today’s educational system, which is causing more students to be forced onto wait lists for required classes.
Students at Fresno State have seen classes cut, teachers let go and programs suffer as a result of budget cuts for the university in the last few years. According to the Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning department (IRAP), there are more than 20,000 students attending Fresno State which increases the competition to get into classes.
There is campus-wide anxiety each semester when students walk into full classrooms. While some classes have a full roster and a handful of students lingering on a wait list, other classes often contain a full wait list as well as the eager few attempting to “crash” the course and take the seats of those that are already enrolled yet absent.
“Class cuts do call for students to be proactive in enrollment,” Jim Brown, undergraduate academic adviser for the Craig School of Business, said. Brown mentioned that when students wait to enroll in their classes, advisers cannot always guarantee that they will have 12 units in their class schedule.
The IRAP report for the 2009-2010 academic year lists that the Craig School of Business and Health and Human Services with the largest amount of students. Business majors outweigh all other listed majors totaling 1,702 and in Health and Human Services, Nursing contains the most students with 1,167.
Classes become even more difficult to enroll in these two majors because of the popularity of required classes. Not only are they competing for spots in general education classes like the rest of the student body, but there are courses which may be full with students of the same major.
Business major David Mesa was placed on three wait lists last year and said that several business classes closed with no wait list available. “It’s harder to get into my business classes because they are only offering so many sections,” Mesa said. “So I’m forced to stay in college longer which means all my student loans will accumulate and be slapped on me when I graduate.”
Not only do wait lists cause the stress of maintaining unit levels and completing required courses, students such as Mesa have the concern of paying for education even though the classes they need aren’t always available.
The nursing program at Fresno State contains eight prerequisites that must be completed before a student it accepted into the program. It usually takes students two years to complete the prerequisites along with general education classes, and the program itself is six semesters, which totals an estimated five years for expected graduation.
“Wait lists for the prerequisites can become a problem if you’re not organized,” Ryann Bringhurst, nursing major, said.
Bringhurst said that as long as students have a class plan when they start college, the wait lists will not affect them. The nursing program itself does not contain a wait list, so students must reapply each year until they are admitted.
“The extra schooling is definitely worth it in the long run, it’s just hard right now,” Bringhurst said.