San Joaquin Valley college students -- present and prospective -- have taken it on the chin with a nasty three-punch combination delivered by the state budget crisis.

The first hit: A one-year delay in opening the University of California at Merced.

The second: Staggering fee hikes, ranging from 30 percent at University of California and California State University campuses to 63 percent at the community colleges.

The third: Enrollment caps, achieved in part by earlier admission deadlines.

California State University, Stanislaus, will accept all students it admitted for the fall semester, but has moved up deadlines for winter and spring 2004 terms. Students need to apply by Tuesday for the short winter term and by Sept. 12 for spring semester.

A deadline has not been set for applications for fall semester 2004, but it's likely to be earlier than the May 31 date in effect this year. This will force students to plan ahead and to stop thinking of Stanislaus as an option that is available anytime they want it.

The worst ramification of these multiple hits is the potential of discouraging valley teens from trying to get a college education. We already lag behind the state in college attendance, a shortcoming we have to change, not live with.

For the time being, the solution is for students to be even more tenacious in applying to college and seeking financial aid to pay for it. And residents and community leaders need to keep pressing for adequate -- and economical -- college opportunities in the valley.