Sun, Nov 23, 2008 (2:06 a.m.)

College of Southern Nevada officials are planning to close six of its 11 satellite learning centers because of the state’s budget crunch.

The state’s public colleges and universities are drawing up plans for a potential 14 percent cut, which would amount to $14.5 million. Cutting the CSN centers, including those in Boulder City, the Moapa Valley and Lincoln County, would save $637,500.

The money saved, though, would only erode the community college’s core mission — reaching the community. The centers provide an opportunity to people who might not otherwise have one. Working people often cannot find time to trek to one of the college’s three main campuses to go to school. But with facilities across sprawling Southern Nevada, people have been able to attend a wide variety of classes.

The school’s offerings include occupational training and personal enrichment, but as education costs have soared, so has interest in community colleges as places to gain credit toward a bachelor’s degree.

As Charlotte Hsu noted in Thursday’s Las Vegas Sun, three of the centers saw an increase in the enrollment of students seeking college credit.

Considering many people may be looking at learning new career skills or finding other lines of work in this economy, it is important that the education system be open and available to students.

The higher education system’s regents will have to make some hard decisions if the budget shortfall is as large as expected. It will be difficult because Nevada has never fully funded education and any cuts could have long-lasting effects. And CSN receives the smallest amount of funding per full-time student among the state’s community colleges.

Regents should look carefully at the equity of the budget cuts among colleges, and they should remember that community colleges play a major role in training the state’s workforce and helping young students prepare for further education. They’re worth the cost.