UC was SUPPOSED to be a low-cost four year college option. My total UC fees (no tuition) in 1972 were $128 per quarter!

How things have changed, and not for the better for our students.

@Jozie - 1972 was a long time ago. Ivy League tuition was only $2000 in the early 1970s. The number of kids going to college is a lot higher now and we need more options to educate our kids.

> Hanstein added that although the technical requirement to become a dental hygienist
> is a two-year degree, the American Dental Association (which endorsed Foothill's
> application) has indicated it's moving toward having a bachelor's degree
> as the minimum entry-level requirement.

This seems like "mission creep" at its fullest. Certainly a targeted two-year program for a vocation like "dental hygiene" makes sense--but a BS/BA? Most four year courses involve a number of courses that often don't have anything to do with one's major course of study, but are thought to have value over the course of one's life. Such courses might include mathematics, history, language, and some sort of science.

How would any of these topics actually increase the technical skills of a "dental hygenist"? Certainly they would drive up the cost of the initial qualification, and then the salary demands for the employee, followed by increased costs for dental services that are not improved by the dental hygenist's having a BS/BA, rather than an AA and certification.

Maybe it makes sense for Community Colleges to offer a BS/BA in some areas--but dental hygiene does not seem to be a good idea.

Why hasn't this highly popular program already been expanded (24 students accepted out of 100 applying). If there is an unfilled demand for dental technicians, why can't the two year program be expanded as well? One way to stop highly predatory private schools who get federal funding to charge high tuition to desperate students, often for inadequate programs with poor placement programs, is to expand successful junior college programs. However, I would like to see lower tuition. Are community colleges really charging over $300 per credit hour (10k/30)?