Sierra College's $100 million budget is balanced and College Trustee Aaron Klein says that's because four years ago the 7-member Board of Trustees made a concerted effort to not overspend.

“So to essentially establish that balance budget policy four years ago. We’ve generated four million dollars in new surpluses and our reserves are now at ten and a half percent and we’re prepared to deal with this tremendous economic downturn and crisis that we find ourselves in in a very good way for our students.”

Klein described the Board of Trustees and college president as "all rowing in the same direction." He says community colleges are even more vital in this economy because they can provide inexpensive retraining so people can get jobs.

“But we are probably going to avoid laying off any of our faculty any major cuts in courses, and in course offerings to our students and now is the time when people need community college education the most, when they need the job re-training.”

Sierra College has 15,000 fulltime students on 3 campuses: Rocklin, Grass Valley and Truckee.