De Anza Student Body Senate discussed new programs to enroll in classes online and finish degrees faster at the DASB Senate meeting on Nov. 6.

The Exchange Cross Enrollment Link program offered by the California Virtual Campus allows students to enroll in online classes at other community colleges.

Foothill and De Anza College are the only two colleges currently participating.

Kate Jordahl, Director of Academic Affairs and Consortia at California Community College Virtual Campus, said the goal of the program is for students to finish their degrees faster.

“The goal of the program is to give access to the majority of the student who may not have opportunities to take required classes on time,” she said.

Students can take up two classes at a time and FAFSA information is transferred with the students enrollment record upon request.

Jordahl said she plans to advertise the program through Canvas and by visiting other community colleges.

Currently, the program does not accept international students.

“We are considering including international students but because of the complexity of their status it is not the first priority,” Jordahl said.

She said there are plans to expand the online enrollment program to every California community college by 2023.

De Anza alumni Neil McClintick presented Cupertino for All, an organization advocating for affordable housing in Cupertino and eliminating zoning practices.

McClintick said that 8% of De Anza students are Cupertino residents, while a majority of the population live in San Jose.

He said the average home price in Cupertino is $2 million and apartment rent is $3,500.

Zoning practices are a form of segregation, he said, and cites the example of Oakland being “heavily subjected to gentrification because leading cities like Cupertino aren’t building affordable housing.”

“We need to radically rethink how we set up our cities,” he said.