Scrambling to expand academic programs in the face of shrinking budgets, officials at Ventura County's four-year university plan to ask students to pick up the entire tab for pursuing two new graduate degrees set to be offered next school year.

The self-supporting degree programs in business and education will be a first for Cal State Channel Islands, which like other Cal State campuses has been hit hard by a state-ordered enrollment freeze.

Officials at the university initially announced that the enrollment cap, imposed to reduce state spending, would stall creation of new academic programs for at least a year. But in an effort to meet local needs, officials decided to launch the new degree programs as soon as possible by moving to a system where the programs would pay for themselves.

Students will pay $450 a unit to pursue a master's of business administration and $295 a unit for a master's of education.

At six units a semester, the per-semester costs total $2,700 and $1,770, respectively.

In comparison, graduate students in the Cal State system typically pay a state-subsidized fee of $504 a semester for six units or less.

"It wouldn't be our first choice, but these are degrees we feel are very much needed in the community," said Gary Berg, the university's director of extended education, which will offer the programs.

"Without the state support, we have two choices: Either we do not offer the degrees at all … or we offer them at cost to the public."

The self-support concept is not new to the Cal State University system.

Berg said there were about 40 degrees, most at the graduate level, offered on a self-support basis at Cal State campuses statewide. Those programs allow campuses to expand course offerings and craft specialized curriculum, without drawing on state dollars.

That method could become increasingly popular as lawmakers move to cut higher education spending in response to California's fiscal crisis.

Last summer, the Legislature warned the Cal State and University of California systems that it did not intend to provide money for increased enrollment this fall, despite a statewide increase in the number of college-age students.

More recently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cutting freshman classes in both university systems by 10% this fall.

The number of admissions directly affects state coffers because fees paid by university students do not cover the cost of their educations, which are highly subsidized by tax dollars.

Ted Lucas, Cal State Channel Islands' vice president for academic affairs, said it was very likely the university would offer more self-support degree programs if the budget forecast remained gloomy.

"We have had such a strong demand from people in Ventura County for those degrees, and through self-support we'll be able to meet the needs of county residents," Lucas said.

"We want to get going now. We just can't sit around and wait for the governor to give us more money."

The new graduate degrees at the Camarillo-area campus will be geared toward working professionals.

The 34-unit master's of education is designed to meet an increasing demand in the county for school principals, providing hands-on training and real-life experience in local schools.

The program can accommodate up to 25 students and is set to be launched this summer. The coursework is expected to take one year to complete.

Professor Joan Karp, chairwoman of the university's education program, said she hoped cost would not be an issue for prospective students.

While students will shell out $10,000 for the master's degree, Karp said they could easily recoup those costs with the pay raise that comes from rising through the ranks to become principals.

"We just don't have any way around [the self-support program] at this point in time, this was our only solution," Karp said.

Likewise, economics professor Ashish Vaidya said a self-supported MBA program was the only way for the university to immediately meet a rising demand in the county for management education.

Vaidya said that even with paying $450 a unit, students would be able to earn the master's degree for less than $15,000 — a fraction of what it would cost at some independent universities in the area.

The Cal State Channel Islands' MBA is designed to allow students to work during the day and attend school in the evening, two nights a week.

The program can accommodate 25 students and courses will be offered in 12-week blocks. The program takes 18 months to complete.

"It's a model that works really well," said Vaidya, who will direct the program.

"Given the need in the community for a quality MBA, we decided to offer this on a self-support basis.

"Otherwise, it might have been several years before we would have been able to get the program up and running."