SAN MARCOS -- Students at North County's community colleges return to campus Monday facing higher fees but with assurances that they will still be getting California's best bargain in higher education.

Students will be paying $7 more per credit hour ---- a hike of 64 percent from last year ----- as the colleges make up for some $160 million of the $250 million cut statewide from General Fund spending for the two-year schools. The hike does not sit well with some students.

"I don't in any way endorse the increase," said Jill Haymer, the executive vice president of Associated Student Government at MiraCosta College. "The 64 percent is drastic. I think there's a sense of frustration because the point of community college is accessibility. With the increase, education is less accessible to the public."

As of late this week, it was unclear to campus officials whether the fee hike was discouraging enrollment. At Palomar College, enrollment in credit-granting courses stood at 22,487, up a third of one percent from August 2002. But a year ago, when students were still paying only $11 per credit hour, there had been no increase in the numbers registering. At MiraCosta, enrollment stood at 8,054, slightly above the fall of last year. Both campuses also have more funds to support students for whom the $7 increase has made college unaffordable.

The numbers are subject to much change, as students still have time to register. The deadline is Sept. 6 at Palomar and Aug. 30 at MiraCosta.

Still a bargain

Administrators say that the fees ---- which add $420 to the cost of the 60 credits that qualify students for a degree and a transfer to a four-year university ---- still cannot be beat. "The way I look at it," says Palomar College President Sherrill L. Amador, "a student can't afford not to come to a community college. Certainly for the quality of education we do provide, it's still a bargain."

By contrast, tuitions at the Phoenix, Mesa and Estrella Mountain colleges in Arizona's Maricopa district run to $51 per credit hour.

And even though California colleges are being told next year could well be worse, Amador and others want to make sure people know, as she put it, "there's a lot of good things going on."

At Palomar, for example, students come back to a gleaming new Student Center, a $3 million gem in the center of campus that officials say will encourage the commuting student population to stick around campus a little more. A ceremony to mark the official opening is set for 11:30 a.m. at the center on Sept. 4.

Palomar also welcomes Berta Cuaron, who replaces Diane Lutz in the key post of vice president for instruction. Cuaron served Mesa College in San Diego in the same post on an interim basis. She comes to Palomar from Miramar College in San Diego, where she was an instructional dean for 12 years.

Joining her team will be two campus veterans who will serve as instructional deans. They are Katheryn Garlow of languages and literature and Pat Schwerdtfeger of arts, media, business and computing systems.

Garlow, who has been at Palomar since 1973, has worked as a teacher of English as a second language, as the coordinator of the computer lab, the coordinator of professional development, and as director of the Bilingual Teacher Corps.

Schwerdtfeger, who began at Palomar in 1974 teaching speech communications and religious studies, has been president of the faculty senate, tenure review coordinator and an interim instructional dean in the divisions of human arts and sciences, vocational education and media, business and community services.

Hospitable new face

MiraCosta College welcomes a new face as John Moonen arrives on the Barnard Drive campus in Oceanside after heading one of the biggest hospitality programs in the nation at Florida's Daytona Beach Community College. Moonen said he aims to heighten awareness among students that the hospitality and tourism industry is a source of steady employment.

"I can't even imagine another industry that has so many job opportunities," he said.

Moonen also aims to form an advisory group so that the college can mesh its training with the needs of the industry.

"I want to say to them that we're here to serve you," Moonen said. "It's not the other way around. I want them to tell me what I can do for them."

MiraCosta, which closed its auto body program last spring, is expanding the offerings in automotive technology. New classroom and lab space will house four more vehicle racks, computer wheel balancers, new wheel-alignment computers, brake bays, horsepower and pollution level testing machines and a new tool room.

The college also begins the new school year in search of a president to replace Tim T.L. Dong, who announced he will be resigning next summer after 10 years at the helm. A more immediate task is to replace board member Jean Moreno, who resigned last month after 27 years. The board is set to interview 10 applicants for her post on Tuesday and Wednesday,