New semester begins at Fresno City College with new options on associate degrees, courses and parking

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Monday marked the beginning of the spring semester for Fresno City College.

Not only is the semester new, the campus in Central Fresno is offering new options when it comes to associate degrees.

"We have two new brand new state approved associate degrees for transfers. One is in public health and the other one is in social justice. We believe those two degrees are on the cutting edge," said Fresno City College President Dr. Carole Goldsmith.

Fresno City College is at 75% for student capacity this semester according to Dr. Goldsmith.

Despite there being standing room only in some classes there is still time to register for new students.

Also new this semester students will no longer have to take placement tests for English and Math thanks to Assembly Bill 705.

"Now we know that students that are placed right into college level math, with lots of support for credit or credit support, they will do much better than taking three semester of remedial math to get into college level," she said.

The biggest challenge facing new and returning students Monday was parking.

Many decided to arrive for class a few hours early just to find a spot on campus.

"I usually try to get here about 7 a.m in the morning to find a good parking spot but when I got here this morning it was just swamped. I mean it is just bad out here," said John Hillis, a student at the college.

Dr. Goldsmith said Fresno City College is looking to add more parking spaces in the future but right now they are offering ride sharing programs, free rides for students on FAX buses and more.

"The other thing that we have done is that we have a shuttle that runs from Ratcliffe Stadium parking and that shuttle comes back and forth. That helps out with the parking pressure," she said.