The state of the economy has hit the San Francisco Bay Area hard, with an unemployment rate of over 11%. While this number is less than the overall California unemployment rate at more than 12%, the situation is frightening for most of us living in the nation’s highest cost-of-living region. For many people who have lost their jobs, and possibly their homes as well, a personal sense of worth often declines, as the feeling of control loses its grip on their personal lives.
With a growing faction of people feeling insecure nationwide, an increasing number of adults are deciding to return to school, either full or part time, to learn something new or update existing skills. The downside of this escalating situation is that as increasing numbers of adults look to come into the classroom, the fiscal impact of budget cuts, along with the rising cost of tuition, has created a burden on large numbers of potential learners. This week has seen huge protests against University of California tuition hikes, which reflects resentment in general against the rising cost for all adult education.
Historically Bay Area educational resources have been some of the best and most well known in the country. Unfortunately, the extreme financial setbacks may have negatively impacted this honor. In spite of disappointing news updates focused on diminishing financial resources for city and state funded adult education, let’s not forget that there still are some educational opportunities to be found. In the end, it is a combination of searching and using creativity to make the most of what is available to fit an individual’s specific educational needs. Returning to school can be a big decision for many adults, so doing “search homework” will definitely pay off. It can be easy to become discouraged, but even letting friends know you are interested in specific subjects may increase the number of educational venues you will hear about.
Below are a few links to help an initial search for both free and for low cost continuing education classes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lifetime learning is a wonderful tool for personal and professional growth. Enjoy the journey!
City College of San Francisco free classes
SFSU College of Extended Learning
Comments
I am not a resident of the SF Bay area but your educational promotions are to be commended. It's not just your geographical hit hard by this recession but everywhere. It's almost sad how the very security of even higher education has let down Americans who have worked for the priveledge of their career choice, sometimes only to find out, that it isn't wasn't the best choice to begin with. However, your approach to learning no matter the age of an adult is motivating and encouraging and could not come at a better time when our economy needs vision in the right direction, especially our press of the written word. Kuddos to you!
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