The state Legislature's passage of the budget calls for nearly $500 million in cuts to higher education - forcing community colleges to increase fees, threatening accessibility for the state's most needy students and deepening reductions for the California State University system.

Community college students can expect fees to go up from $11 to $18 per unit - a 64-percent hike - this fall. Thousands of students who have already registered for classes will eventually have to pay the difference, officials said.

The new budget, which Gov. Gray Davis is expected to sign Saturday, calls for an additional $15 million in cuts to the CSU system. The CSU now faces $345.2 million - or approximately 13 percent of its $2.6 billion general fund budget - deficit during the 2003-04 academic year.

"The CSU finds itself in a severe predicament," Chancellor Charles Reed said in a memo on Wednesday. "We have entered a totally new budget environment. These legislative mandates not only are direct and clear, but represent wholly new expectations from those who fund higher education."

The new budget also carries a stark message about limitations on future enrollment growth at CSU campuses, officials said. The cuts will mean the CSU must limit growth to 4.3 percent instead of the 7 percent originally anticipated for 2003-04.

"This is going to be quite a challenge," said Darwin Labordo, associate vice-president of finance at Cal Poly Pomona. "It could mean another $600,000 in reductions to scale it back to the enrollment target that is in accordance with what the Legislature says it should be."

In addition, campuses have been notified that the state will not provide any funding for enrollment growth during the 2004-05 school year.

"That's a major development," Labordo said. "With the population boom, we are expecting record enrollment numbers so this comes at a really bad time."

According to Chancellor Reed, on the basis of admissions already made for the fall and winter quarters and fall semester, the CSU system has exceeded its enrollment target of 335,000 full-time students.

"Even by taking no new students for spring semester and quarter, we will still exceed the target," he said in a statement.

Possible cost-cutting options that campus presidents may consider, Reed said, include closing admissions for spring/winter 2004 terms, turning down applications from out-of-state residents or tightening admissions requirements for transfer students.

To address its ballooning budget deficit, the CSU Board of Trustees has bumped fees twice in the past eight months. In December, the board voted to raise fees by 10 percent for undergraduates and 15 percent for graduate students. Last month, the board voted for a 30 percent fee hike.

Community college officials said they are overall pleased with the outcome of the Legislature's final budget.

"The final budget was fair to community colleges," said Scott Lay, director of state budget issues for the Community College League of California. "Very difficult choices had to be made, but in the end, community colleges were treated fairly."

The impact of the budget on community colleges include a fee increase of $11 to $18 per unit, $87 million less in general fund and local property taxes, and a decrease in per pupil funding by $37 from the 2002-03 revised budget.

However, community colleges will invest an additional $38 million in financial aid and outreach and campuses are not going to be fundamentally different from last year, according to Lay.

Colleges are also to expect their delayed July payments - approximately $200 million total - about 10 days after Gov. Davis signs the budget, Lay said.

Chaffey College's July allotment is approximately $2.5 million, according to Earl Davis, vice-president of business services.

Though officials say community colleges have been spared from draconian cuts, students argue not enough has been done to ensure accessibility for everyone.

"There are other ways of making up for the budget," said 18-year-old Ashley Young, who will be a first-year student at Mt. San Antonio College. "The state Legislature could have argued more. I mean, the reason why people come here is because they can afford it."

Young said slashing course schedules may mean she will have to spend three years at Mt. SAC before transferring to a four-year college or university. Normally, it takes students about two years to complete the classes needed for transferring, she said.

Nineteen-year-old Loren Calderon and her boyfriend, Oscar Navarro, looked over financial aid forms while waiting in line.

With a baby on the way, Calderon said she worries about how the budget will impact her future.

"I might have to take less classes, it might take me longer to finish," the West Covina resident said. "It's going to be hard."