Students are scrambling to enroll in classes at the San Fernando Valley's three community colleges, where state budget cuts prompted the elimination of dozens of courses for the semester that begins Sept. 2.

Pierce College is offering 8.5 percent fewer classes than last fall, while Mission and Valley colleges cut course offerings by 10 percent. And despite significant enrollment increases -- applications are up a whopping 22 percent at Pierce -- the budget cuts mean the campuses cannot add more sections of high-demand classes.

Mission College, for instance, had to cut the number of classes offered from 640 to 570, although its applications rose from 11,170 to 11,500, officials said.

"I've heard in the life sciences we have some classes with waiting lists of 100 people," said Ed Pardo, public affairs spokesman for Mission College in Mission HIlls. "What's going to happen as we get closer to the semester is fewer and fewer classes will be available."

In fact, many courses filled up quickly after enrollment opened Aug. 4, and long lists of closed classes have already been posted.

"Basic English, basic math, requirements to degrees and transfer; those are the classes that will fill up first, and then the students will line up outside those classes," predicted Cindy Sardo, public relations director at Valley College.

"In the summer, some classes had 90 students -- the students were just willing to come, sit on the floor, waiting for people to drop out so they could get a seat."

Arlene Rose, 18, an aspiring nurse from Van Nuys, arrived at Pierce this week, only to learn that all the classes she needed for her major were already full.

"I'll check the catalog and see what classes are open, and I'll come back another day," she said.

"My fingers are crossed," said Darnell Edwards, 23, of Granada Hills, as he waited to sign up for a writing course at Pierce. "If the governor could have found other places to cut that were not as important as education, we would be OK."

Both the University of California and California State University systems have increased tuition by 30 percent, prompting even more students to fulfill their basic requirements at community colleges.

California State University, Northridge, has about the same number of classes as last fall, but is expecting between 500 and 1,000 more students and classes are starting to fill up, said Carmen Ramos Chandler, director of news and information for CSUN.

And then there's the fee increase at the community colleges: from $11 a credit hour to $18 a credit hour. Students who enroll now are paying the higher fee; students who enrolled before the fee was passed will be billed later for the remaining amount.

The average student in the nine-member Los Angeles Community College District takes three to four classes, or nine to 12 credit hours, which means an increase of between $63 to $84.

Although most of the campuses had signs posted about the fee increase, several students said that while they had heard a fee increase was pending, they weren't aware it had been passed.

Kurejea Guthrie, 21, of Studio City, registered for her last four classes at LAVC by telephone, and was surprised to find the cost was a lot higher than she expected. She added up the numbers twice, wondering if she had made a mistake.

"I was going to wait and see if it was because of a fee increase," before telling her aunt who pays for her education out of her college fund, she said.

Financial aid is available for students who qualify, and the three colleges are teaming up to produce a cable television commercial to get the word out, said Mike Cornner, director of marketing and public relations at Pierce College.

"We know it can be discouraging to have your heart set on going to college and feel you can't afford it," Cornner said.