Thousands of students who will be locked out of the state's four-year universities in the fall because of budget cuts may be taking comfort in the notion that they'll at least be offered free tuition at community colleges.

But a number of voices in Sacramento are warning students not to get their hopes up yet. The free tuition idea -- part of a package of ideas the governor has proposed in an effort to tackle the state deficit -- is far from final, and, if some have their way, won't be offered at all.

"Someone ought to be letting the students know that this is not a done deal," said Steve Boilard, higher education director with the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office, which does not endorse Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's idea to waive fees for students who are deferred in the fall from California State University and University of California campuses.

The fee waiver request has already met opposition in the Capitol, as well as from community college students who complain it's unfair. The Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee on Education voted against it at a March 22 hearing, although the hearing was only the beginning of what will be lengthy debates before the state budget is finalized in the summer.

H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the California Department of Finance, said the governor will continue to fight for his proposals.

"We think there's a very compelling case to be made for this program," Palmer said. "...This is a way in which we can continue to provide access to higher education and utilize the community colleges to a greater extent."

Other officials are urging parents and students to stay tuned.

"Clearly, no decisions have been made," said Cheryl Fong, spokeswoman for the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office in Sacramento.

The community college tuition waiver is one of the ways the governor has proposed preserving college access for thousands of students in the face of dwindling state resources for CSU and UC, which have historically offered a space to every qualified student.

The state has warned CSU and UC that it won't be able to provide money next year for enrollment growth -- forcing the systems to restrict enrollment.

Schwarzenegger, in his budget proposal in January, said CSU and UC should redirect 10 percent of their incoming fall freshmen into community colleges. Those students would have their community college fees waived and would benefit from transfer agreements with CSU and UC that would guarantee they could transfer back into the systems after successfully completing two years of undergraduate work.

The plan would save California $46 million, the governor estimated, because the state pays less to support community college students than it does for UC and CSU students. Free tuition would be an added incentive for students to accept the deal.

The Legislature must endorse the plan for it to go ahead, but Fong worries that students and families may already be banking on free tuition next year, especially as the university systems extend admissions offers.

CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow said the system has yet to make any decisions about how it will divert students under the governor's plan. She said it's possible campuses will be able to avoid any diversions by taking other steps to reduce enrollment.

But UC is farther along, and this month began mailing notices to 3,200 UC-eligible freshmen who won't be offered a space in the system in the fall. Most of those students will receive a second letter in April informing them of the community college route suggested by the governor.

UC spokesman Michael Reese said the letters will inform students of the governor's proposal, even though the details likely won't be completed in Sacramento. "It's not an unfamiliar pickle for us," he said. "In recent years, we've had to offer admission to students not knowing what tuition is going to be. This budget uncertainty certainly puts us in a squeeze, but not nearly as bad as it puts California students and their parents."

Meanwhile, legislators are beginning to oppose the fee waiver proposal.

State Sen. Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, who chairs the subcommittee that voted it down last week, said the waiver doesn't seem equitable -- especially since it will be automatically granted to qualifying students, regardless of financial need. A current community college program offers waivers only to the most financially needy.

The governor also has proposed raising community college fees by 44 percent, from about $540 a year for a full-time student to $780 a year, which would further impact traditional students.

"So community college students who are there find themselves paying higher fees and then feel like somebody else is treated with great favoritism," said Scott, the former president of Pasadena City College.

He also questioned whether UC- or CSU-bound students would even be interested in attending a community college -- free tuition or not.

Assemblyman George Plescia, R-San Diego, who is carrying a bill to codify the governor's proposal, said the plan makes fiscal and educational sense.

"In light of our budget situation, and because we're already proposing limiting freshmen enrollment at UC and CSU, this at least allows them to have the benefit of a fee waiver to go to a community college and get their general education requirement out of the way," he said.