After seven years of notable enrollment increases, California's community-college system, the country's largest, lost some 54,000 students last spring, and officials expect the decline to continue this fall, according to two reports released on Tuesday. The reports blame the downturn on state budget cuts.

The state's 108 community colleges were hit last winter with midyear budget cuts of $161-million. Those cuts forced colleges to slash nearly 5,800 course-section offerings. The 1.7-million-student system had been growing by 1 to 3 percent every semester since 1995. Considering that rate of increase, officials estimate that 90,000 students were shut out of the system last spring.

"Budget cuts and budget uncertainty caused an alarming loss of access to the system," said Thomas J. Nussbaum, chancellor of the community colleges, whose office released the two reports.

The 2002-3 academic year was the first in nearly a decade in which the two-year colleges did not receive a budget increase.

While head counts for this fall are not yet available, officials say that a $7-per-credit tuition increase, which goes into effect this semester, and additional cuts to course-section offerings will spur further declines in enrollment. Mr. Nussbaum said, however, that the enrollment dip this fall will probably not be as drastic as last semester's.

The officials also note that the budget cuts have forced colleges to compromise the quality of the education they provide.

According to the reports, enrollment in liberal-arts transfer courses was down by more than 4,000 full-time-equivalent students. Other subject areas with enrollment drops included computer information sciences and electric technology, fields that Mr. Nussbaum said are important to fill work-force shortages.

A $38-billion budget deficit has forced California lawmakers to slash funds for most state agencies. But Mr. Nussbaum said the community colleges had taken a greater hit than most other agencies because Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, has made a priority of elementary and secondary education. A state law requires 40 percent of the state budget to be allocated to public schools and community colleges.

"I don't dispute the needs of the K-12 system, but community colleges tend to get what's left," said Mr. Nussbaum, whose office has been particularly hard-hit by the cutbacks. It does not even have a secretary.