The state's budget crisis is about to hit home for thousands of college applicants this month, as California's public universities prepare to turn away a record number of eligible students.

Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposal, fees for both California State University and University of California systems would increase 10 percent, and both the CSU and UC will need to cut freshman enrollment by 10 percent for the first time.

Those freshmen will be asked to attend a community college, free of charge, with the promise of admission to a UC or CSU campus in their junior year. Community colleges in turn would get a 3 percent funding increase, slightly more than they would normally receive, to handle the growth.

That plan won't work. In real life, those students won't wait around for slots two or three years away. Californians should have no illusions: These cuts break the promise made in Gov. Pat Brown's master plan for higher eduction in 1960. They take California down a new road, one that gets dimmer as it gets longer.

Students most likely to suffer will be the less savvy, more vulnerable ones who rely on community colleges as their only option for building skills they need to find jobs. Many won't get the classes they need and will take longer to graduate or earn transfers.

Is the 3 percent funding increase enough? Just ask Foothill-DeAnza Community College District Chancellor Martha Kanter, who is creating her contingency plan for an expected $12 million shortfall this coming school year. ``It's not enough. Everybody is just hanging on to maintain what little we have left.''

Tough times call for smart choices, and education must remain a top priority to ensure California's future economic prosperity and viability.

That also means students need to expect fee increases. In addition to the 10 percent hike for UC and CSU campuses, Schwarzenegger's plan also calls for raising community college student fees to $26 per semester unit, $8 more than the current fee. Reasonable increases are fair, and a schedule of moderate and predictable hikes, as Schwarzenegger's plan suggests, deserves support.