Enrollment units sold to DVC

Failing to meet its Full-Time Equivalent Student goal for 2010-11, Diablo Valley College purchased 208 unfunded FTES from Contra Costa College for $255,465.

Both CCC and Los Medanos College had unfunded FTES, meaning they generated more student contact hours than the state provided to pay the district.

"As far as the district was concerned, (the FTES) were there, there just needed to be redistribution between the colleges," DVC Vice President of Finance and Administration Chris Leivas said.

In addition to CCC's FTES, DVC purchased 159 credited FTES and 5 non-credited FTES from LMC for $195,092, Director of Fiscal Services Judy Breza said.

Breza said the state does not differentiate the types of FTES and the district uses a blended amount of FTES, which on average cost $1,213.52 each.

Leivas said DVC could have added courses to meet its FTES goal, but doing so would have been too costly to the district.

Instead, reimbursing its sister colleges would allow DVC to generate the amount of FTES needed in a more cost-effective way.

The decision to purchase FTES was made in spring 2011 and the transaction has yet to be closed.

Breza said CCC earned a total of 6,460 credited FTES and of those, the state would not pay for 495 FTES.

Director of Admissions and Records Michael Aldaco said because the state was not going to provide any money for CCC's extra FTES, it made sense to shift it over to DVC, which has an FTES goal almost twice as large as CCC and LMC.

"This is a common practice around the state. I think it is good that the colleges have a working collaborative to allow this kind of cooperation," Aldaco said.