Share: Donald Trump’s plans to dismantle the Department of Education (DOE) indicate potential reductions to financial aid, causing concerns for students. In the event of these plans following through, PCC’s Financial Aid Department would intend to pursue efforts to maintain financial aid for students. In a campaign video from September 2023, Trump declared his plans for the Education Department under Agenda47. “One other thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C. and sending all …
PCC considers monthly salary program for low-income students
Share: The LACCD recently implemented the BOOST program meant to provide a monthly salary of $1000 for 12 months to 250 low-income students pursuing degrees in health to ensure they can finish their degree. This program or one similar to it could be incredibly beneficial for low-income students at PCC if implemented. Although community college is often a less expensive alternative to university, many students still have to concern themselves with working jobs while balancing their school work. This less time and focus on school …
DOGE poses significant financial consequences for PCC
Share: Recently, Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the two leaders of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has suggested that DOGE would outright “delete” certain government departments, one of them being the Department of Education (DOE). “We expect mass reductions, we expect certain agencies to be deleted outright,” Ramaswamy said. Ramaswamy and fellow co-leader Elon Musk have propped up DOGE to be a Grim Reaper of sorts in regards to many of the governmental departments that they wish to cut funding from . One of …
PCC geography professors fund new scholarship from their own paychecks
Share: After years without dedicated financial support, geography students at Pasadena City College (PCC) are poised to benefit from a new scholarship, thanks to the initiative of the geography faculty. The PCC Geography Faculty Award is the brainchild of Dr. Rhea Presiado and her three geography colleagues, Dr. Hector Agredano, Professor Brennan Wallace, and Dr. Nikita Prajapati. “Since our geography students currently have access to zero scholarships, we decided to pony up the funds out of our payroll,” Presiado said in an interview. The four …
Forget to pay your tuition? Starting next semester, you could be dropped
Share: As Pasadena City College (PCC) wraps up the semester, students are preparing to register for classes under a new drop policy set to take effect next term. The updated policy introduces stricter payment deadlines that the college says are aimed at preventing fraud, reducing student debt, and increasing access to classes for committed students. The policy is a return to pre-COVID-19 practices, with some modifications to ensure clarity and flexibility. Under the new guidelines, students must pay for their classes on time or risk …
‘PCC is prepared’: World AIDS Day calls for action over awareness
Share: World AIDS Day is observed annually on December 1. The event was first commemorated by the United Nations in 1988 with the goal of ending the stigma put on HIV patients, who were (and still are) overwhelmingly LGBTQ+ people and people of color. Every year, the Board of Trustees of Pasadena City College passes a resolution officially recognizing December 1 as World AIDS Day on the college’s campuses. “[T]hrough the ties that bind us as a community, both within the San Gabriel Valley and …
‘I was completely lost’: First Gen Week provides needed support for students
Share: In celebration of their annual First Gen Week, Pasadena City College has been hosting a plethora of events in the FYE Pathways Center. These events include a resume workshop, a career panel, and a conversation on financial literacy, all focusing on the perspective of first generation students. Most of the people involved with organizing the events were first generation students themselves. At the panel, they aimed to inspire the first generation students in attendance by sharing their stories and career paths from community college …
These vendors claim to work for the LA Times. The Times has never heard of them
Share: Pasadena City College (PCC) students have been targeted by individuals falsely claiming to represent the Los Angeles Times in an apparent scheme to sell unauthorized newspaper subscriptions. The perpetrators set up tables on campus, soliciting personal information and payment details while offering gift cards as incentives. According to the Los Angeles Times, the company has not authorized any staff or hired vendors to sell subscriptions on PCC’s campus. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Times said that the company generally does not conduct …
Math prerequisites are going away, get ready for AI tutors
Share: California Community Colleges (CCCs) have eradicated the majority of foundational math courses due to the passage of assembly bill 1705 in 2022 which was designed to combat inequities in college students’ placement and completion of coursework. With this new law, concerns about student outcomes have risen–leading to the recent development of MathGPT: an AI tutor announced on October 16th of this year, meant to bridge the educational gap left behind by this bill. Assembly bill 1705, in conjunction with AB 705, was introduced in …
Students feel disappointment and uncertainty following Trump’s election
Share: As Aaron Iniguez saw the results come in for the election Tuesday night, he wasn’t surprised at President Trump being re-elected — but the margin by which Trump won the popular vote took him aback. “I was really disappointed with how Kamala performed [from] seeing her campaign,” said Iniguez, who is a political science major at PCC. “I already knew she was gonna perform lackluster and less than favorable. Overall, it was not surprising — but the numbers were very surprising.” Iniguez, 19, identifies …