In an evening forum-hall class in Fresno City College, 86 students take seats in soft-cushioned chairs. Another three dozen students sit along carpeted steps in aisles, hoping they'll soon be in one of those comfortable seats.

It's a scene that played out over and over in California community colleges for years, a first-day ritual when aspiring "crashers" place their names on waiting lists and try to outlast others in front of them to get into the class of their choice.

But on the first day of school at Fresno City College on Monday, there seemed to be a few more people seated in the aisles.

"Some classes are more difficult to get into," said student Zack Carr, 24, who returned to Fresno City this year after a couple of years away. "It also costs more."

The classes seem more crowded during the earliest hours, too, said Michelle Corchado, 20, of Fresno.

"There are more people there at 7 or 6 a.m., this morning they were pretty full," she said.

There are fewer Fresno City College classes with more students enrolled this semester. The problem is compounded by state funding cutbacks that have reduced the number of classes, said Cris Monahan Bremer, the school's director of marketing and communications.

Enrollment increased by 2.5%, or about 500 students, over last fall, bringing the Fresno City College campus to more than 21,000 students, said Ned Doffoney, the college's president.
Most core classes have not been affected, he said. Nursing and health sciences classes are being kept at levels similar to last year.

Overall, Doffoney said, there are 50 to 60 fewer classes this year than last year, when the fall schedule contained about 2,000 class selections.

He said students may have to wait in longer lines, receive fewer library services, see fewer tutors and laboratory assistants. Students may even notice the grass being a little longer and the grounds not as spruced up as last year.

But as the next few weeks unfold, Doffoney said, there likely will be a few more classes added to the schedule.

"We have tried to maintain the core integrity of the classroom," he said. "We have to remove tangential components in order to maintain the core."