After surveying other near by community colleges, PCC found that it is violating the California Educational Code by not offering financial aid students reduced priced parking permits, according to Senior Vice President Robert Miller.
“We became aware that we were violating the [California Educational] code after we surveyed these other colleges,” Miller said. “We will be taking steps to address this situation as early as the spring 2015 semester… I don’t think anything can be done immediately about it, but if we can do it any sooner than spring, we will.”
Other schools such as Irvine Valley College and Golden West College state on their websites that students with Board of Governors grants would receive reduced priced parking permits. PCC charges students $64 per semester for parking permits, with or without financial aid.
However, California Educational Code 76360 states that “students who receive financial assistance” should be exempt from parking fees imposed that exceed $30 per semester. Miller said that the school was not intentionally making money off of students.
Associated Students President Jordyn Orozco said that he felt the school should have found out about this violation earlier earlier than they did.
“I think that there could have been more done to make sure that the educational code was being followed,” Orozco said. “I think [the administration] has enough staff that the school is following the code. That’s the code that you have to follow. It trumps all policies that are on this campus. There should have been more time spent on finding this out.”
Orozco also said that its hard enough for students going to college and that they should have one less thing “like fees” to have to worry about.
“The school has now been made aware that it is out of compliance,” Miller said. “The college will take immediate steps to rectify the situation.”
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