Lack of funding, tuition increase, reduction of classes, limited enrollment and the halt of mid-year transfers is putting a strain on two-year schools.

"There is an average of three years to transfer out, but that's just the reality of where we are in our educational system," said Chaffey College Superintendent Henry Shannon.

As the California State University system continues to limit their enrollment and stop mid-year transfers, those seeking a higher education end up knocking on the doors of their local two-year schools, and those looking to transfer are left with no choice but to delay their plans for higher education.

"This trend is definitely going on," said Clarence Brown, spokesman for Mt. San Antonio College. "And what we've been calling four-year schools is taking students five to six years to get out."

Personal circumstances and the economy has also lengthen the pursuit of a degree for a lot of students, Brown said.

Community colleges are the largest higher educational system in the nation comprised of 72 districts and 110 colleges with more than 2.7 million students per year.

The colleges supply workforce training and basic skills education to prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions and offer opportunities for personal enrichment and learning.

The downturn of the economy has encouraged many people to enroll in their local community college to retrain and find a new career. For high school graduates pinching their pennies, community colleges offers an economical way to work off their education requirements.

Reports submitted by the community colleges to the state Chancellor's Office show that enrollments are up at 103 of the state's 110 community colleges. Statewide, enrollments have increased by 6.4 percent, or more than 150,000 students, compared to last year.

Chaffey College, which has campuses in Rancho Cucamonga, Chino Hills and Fontana, has almost 15,000 student enrolled for the fall semester and expects to exceed last year's enrollment figure of 20,000, said Peggy Cartwright, spokeswoman for the college.

Brown said the Mt. SAC, the Walnut-based college, saw a 7 percent spike in enrollment in the fall of 2008, and averages about 1,000 more students than the previous year.

"We're already at about 41,000 credit students..." Brown said.

Mt. SAC, which is the largest community college in the nation, also has an additional 24,000 students who take advantage of the school's non-credit and recreational courses.

Brown said one of the school's biggest challenge is trying to accommodate all the student seeking to enroll.

Unlike the state universities which can set requirements that limit admission, community colleges are open to all students with a valid social security number.

"We take you at whatever point you are," Brown said.

Shannon said a goal of community college system is to prepare students for a transfer to a four-year institution, but with CSU schools reducing their enrollment by 40,000 students in the next two years the "overflow of students trickles down" to them.

"You not only have the student who wants to transfer out into those universities staying in the system, you also have the students who were turned away from the university enrolling in our schools," Shannon said.

"Don't get me wrong, we're not complaining. Community colleges are thriving because people are finding them a quality option but at the same time our funding is being challenged."

Jenny Dannelley, director of transfer center at Chaffey regarding the CSU transfer decisions, said the college was really disappointed to learn that all CSUs are not accepting students planning to transfer mid-year 2010.

At Cal Poly, the winter quarter is closed to transfer students, and the school is not accepting spring admissions, university spokeswoman Esther Chou said.

"We're not accepting any new students. That includes transfers and new students, but if they already applied for admission before July 6, they're eligible to be accepted," Chou said.

Dannelley said there are a few options that Chaffey is suggesting to them, including considering attending private universities.

"Other students may chose to continue their education at Chaffey for the spring semester and take a few more transfer/major prep classes," she said.

Much like many school districts, colleges are dreading how the new state budget that includes $4.3 billion in cuts to public education is going to affect how they run their campuses.

Education as a whole takes up about 40 percent of the state's budget, the general funding for community colleges will be reduced by $235 million.

Budget reductions has forced community colleges to cut back on maintenance, repair and operational costs, freeze positions, and reduce the number of classes for the fall.

Mt. SAC and Chaffey have also eliminated several hundred classes for the fall, and plan to make further reductions this academic year, which can prolong the amount of time a student is enrolled in community college, officials said.

Despite President Barack Obama's proposal to invest $12 billion in the nation's community college to help the institutions reach, teach and train more people for the jobs of the future, the cuts coming to the two-year schools are challenging the way they provide services to the students.

"All colleges have been bracing themselves for this time," Brown said. "The college has remained committed to preserving education. Whether we'll be able to deliver it at the services levels, and protect jobs, is a concern of ours."