Editorials represent the viewpoint of the current La Voz editorial board.
De Anza College is one of the largest community colleges in the Bay Area, with its population only growing. Every quarter, many students face challenges when signing up for classes for in-demand majors such as STEM and social sciences. Classes for these areas often fill up quickly, with many students finding themselves scrambling for spots or facing delays in their academic progress.
According to the latest enrollment data from Winter 2025, this quarter has a headcount of over 40,000 students, with a 0.8% increase from the previous year. Despite an overall rise in enrollment, on-site classes have not kept up with student demand. In Winter 2025, 25% of enrollments meet fully on-site, 20.7% are hybrid and 54.3% are online only.
Although there are currently 527 fully on-campus sections, five more than the amount from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024, students experienced fierce competition for seats in labs and core classes. De Anza offers approximately 1,800 courses, 79 associate degrees, 115 credit certificates and 30 noncredit certificates.
Even with all the course offerings, STEM students don’t have an equal opportunity when it comes to finding classes.
In a recent La Voz poll, 74% out of 23 voters said STEM classes are the most difficult to register for. Most of these STEM classes require lab classes to complete their degree, which are heavily affected by the lack of enough on-site courses to accommodate a high volume of students.
Majors like global studies and political science are also reported to fill up rapidly, with students often facing the risk of being put on waitlists. The same poll reveals that 9% of students said social science courses are the second-hardest to enroll in.
Anecdotal evidence from our newsroom suggests that students face extreme difficulty in securing essential classes. This difficulty forces them into unfavorable schedules, making it hard to balance a job, a social life and other extracurricular activities. Students have also expressed a preference to classroom-based learning, rather than online. Research has shown that in-person classes are better for student learning.
The editorial board believes that a multifaceted approach is crucial to addressing class availability issues.
De Anza needs to add more in-person classes for higher-demand courses. Adding more flexible scheduling, including weekend and evening classes, could ease the bottleneck for students already dealing with multiple commitments. The school should have a more proactive system in place to track the popularity of majors and adjust class availability accordingly.
A system where students can give feedback to college administration will also help with providing crucial data on which classes are becoming popular. This platform would allow the college to adapt faster to the rapidly changing societal landscape, where industries that involve STEM are becoming increasingly prevalent.
The current situation at De Anza is not just a matter of logistics, it’s about an educational gridlock that creates unnecessary strain on students. The board urges the college administrators and trustees to reassess current course offerings and create solutions that guarantee every student has equal access to a high-quality education.
Expanding courses is not only important for students, but it is also necessary for a college which prides itself on providing excellent access to quality education to all its students.
While this issue remains unresolved, students should prioritize taking their major-required classes, rather than general education classes, earlier in their academic career so they have time to recover in case they face any delays.
(Editor’s note: a previous version of this article involved use of generative AI. This editorial has since been rewritten.)
