San Jose City College can be frustrating. Sure, if you register and pay for your classes on time then you have nothing to worry about. But with all the budget cuts, it is harder than it was a few years ago to secure a class.

This semester there hasn’t been any faculty cuts. But there hasn’t been any faculty hired as well because there isn’t enough money in the budget to hire them, said Carlo Santos, the director of Admissions and Records.

Currently, there are roughly 12,500 students attending SJCC with about 5 percent of the classes being cut this semester, Santos said.

The increase percentage of new students average from 10-15 percent, Santos said. Two years ago there were 35 students and now there are 50 students this semester in the class of math instructor, Shiva Singh.

This is a 10 percent increase from semester to semester for the last two years Singh said.

“One of the things that contribute to the overcrowding is the cutbacks from the California State University system,” said Patricia Alvarez, an English instructor. “That would include San Jose State
University and I have many students who are in my class because they are unable to add courses at San Jose State.”

Even students see the growth in population on campus.

The population on campus is at its highest, said Vincent Valencia, a student who has been attending SJCC on-and-off for 12 years.

The first week of this semester Alvarez had about 48-50 students in her classes, which included students enrolled in the class, on the waitlist and still trying to add.

“It kind of messes up all my plans, because I need biology for one of my prerequisites to take their science class that need to fulfill my major,” said Melina Bocanegra, a nursing major.

Even though teachers sometimes have to turn away students, it’s usually for the best.

“Extra crowding is not desirable,” Singh said. “It’s not good for students, because you only have so much time to put in for the students and answer everybody’s questions, and then you have to cover a lot of material. Sometimes you get behind.” Even though teachers and students are the ones who experience overcrowding in the classroom, they are not the only ones who recognize it as a problem.

“It definitely affects the quality of teaching because if you have overcrowding then how do you give the attention they deserve or the quality of teaching they deserve,” Santos said.

So what’s the reason for teachers wanting to take on such challenging positions?

“I like to teach,” said Singh.

“I love it, it’s wonderful. The school is the best school that I ever worked at. And everybody here is very supportive,” said Alvarez.

With dedicated teachers and staff, it is no wonder that students choose SJCC to meet their educational goals. Even if it means putting up with the frustrating situations