California's budget crisis is so big, there's little to compare it to. That makes it hard to grasp its magnitude. But here's one measure of it: The state's public colleges have begun to reject thousands of qualified students. Nothing like that has happened in 40 years.

The message that sends is all too clear: Tens of thousands of young Californians may have to look elsewhere for opportunities. The long-term implications of that for this state, and for its children, are terrible.

This is not a projection. It's here. Statewide, some 1,600 students, mostly community college transfers, have been denied admission to University of California for the fall term. More than 20,000 others - freshmen and transfers - will be turned away from Cal State campuses during this school year, too. Community colleges are slashing scores of course offerings and spring enrollment is down throughout that system by 40,000 students from last year. As many as 90,000 people may have deferred their educational plans at two-year schools.

All this comes atop steep fee increases and is just the first blow from a state budget crisis that, by all projections, will be more severe next year. And it comes just as California's high schools are turning out a record number of graduates - a crop so large that only a year ago, educators were calling it Tidal Wave II and planning to expand for it.

What are all these students to do? Imagine their situation: The state's job market is not promising, and now they're told to put their education on hold, too. Meanwhile, the next year's crop is already coming through the pipeline behind them. In just nine months, demand for college slots will be compounded - and if fiscal projections hold up, opportunities could be even more scarce.

There are layers and layers of ramifications to this. With the public school population rising and federal law demanding fully credentialed teachers, here are the state's primary teacher factories, throttling back. After years of school reforms aimed at producing high school graduates who are better prepared for college and this state's increasingly sophisticated workplace, officials are throwing this retooled machine into reverse. What will that mean in the long run to the state's economic vitality?

All opportunity has not fled the state's colleges. Most determined students are still finding slots. The campuses remain crowded places that throb with hopes and activity. But there should be no mistake about what's happening. This is a reversal of historic proportions. This is not just a larger version of the budget crises of the past, to be papered over without real consequences. This one has consequences. They're already here.