This spring, English as a Second Language courses accounted for over half of the most waitlisted American River College classes before Priority 1 enrollment was opened, according to Adam Windham, associate vice president at American River College.
Patrick Hoggan, ESL teacher at ARC, says this is nothing new.
“My very first semester here, one of my colleagues took me to the side and told me the first words I need to learn are ‘No, you can’t join this class. It’s full.’” Hoggan said.
To aid the wave of students attempting to enroll in ESL classes, the department added two eight week classes after the semester started, one of them being ESLG 41. After two weeks, 18 people were waitlisted in the class of 30 seats. As a response, another ESL class was added Feb 7. Within four days, 10 people were enrolled.
For students feeling defeated with waitlists, Hoggan says the ESL Lab is a good place to start since it allows students to familiarize themselves with content, students, faculty, tutors and other resources. It also allows people to enroll and become an ARC student so they can have higher priority for the next semester and gain a unit.
Students can also read The Parrot, an ARC newsletter created by ESL students featuring their stories, experiences, advice and more. In Issue 189 Spring 2025, advice on how to qualify for priority enrollment through CalWORKS is provided.
Hoggan says these students persevere through challenging language barriers with things like immigration naturalization processes, enrolling in classes and ensuring their funding streams with financial aid are in order.
“I’ve got a master’s degree in German, and do I even know how to say financial aid?” Hoggan said. “In America, German is a luxury. English classes, that’s a necessity. It’s bread and water to the people.”
Hoggan says ESL students are hungry for English, and for the college to support them by providing more budget and professors.
“ESL classes help people to improve their lives and their situation.” said Hoggan. “They allow people to follow their dreams and aspirations.”
Chris Burns • Feb 27, 2025 at 3:17 pm
I wonder if inherent aspects of ESL limit its feasibility to scale into more classes. It could be a possibility that limiting the funnel at the beginning is to manage a limited amount of resources that would normally create a bottle neck further along in the program. Considering that Hoggan also mentioned providing more budget the whole program could be a net loss, but is meant to develop potential students for a more traditional degree. Since you need to be degree seeking to utilize FAFSA this might also be the impact of limitations on subsidizing the university from the California Dream Act.