Foothill-De Anza Serves More Regional Students With Less Funding per Student

How Nearby Community College Districts Compare

When Local Property Taxes Become the Main Funding Source

Foothill-De Anza has entered a different funding environment.

For many years, Foothill-De Anza served enough students that its local property-tax revenue alone was not enough to fund the district under California's funding system, so the state provided additional funding. More recently, local property-tax revenue has grown while enrollment has declined from its historical peak, part of a broader statewide trend.

That balance has now changed.

Foothill-De Anza has become a Community-Supported District, also known as Basic Aid. In practical terms, the district will now rely primarily on local property taxes rather than state funding for its core operating budget.

For a home with an assessed value of $1 million, nearly $1,000 a year goes toward our community colleges — about $700 through the basic property tax plus roughly $286 in Foothill-De Anza bond taxes.

Many residents may not realize how directly their property taxes support community colleges. In Santa Clara County, about 7% of the basic 1% property-tax levy goes to community colleges. For context, about 44% goes to K–12 schools. Properties within the Foothill-De Anza district also pay voter-approved community-college bond taxes, which account for the additional amount above.

Foothill-De Anza's relatively late transition to Community-Supported funding is partly a result of its unusually large student enrollment. More students meant a larger state funding entitlement, so local property-tax revenue had to rise further before it could replace state funding.

Foothill-De Anza serves nearly three times as many students relative to its resident population as West Valley–Mission and San Mateo, and about five times as many as San José–Evergreen.

Only About 40% of Foothill-De Anza Students Live Within the District. Foothill-De Anza serves far more students relative to its resident population, while a much smaller share of its students live within the district.

Had Foothill-De Anza historically served enrollment closer to those neighboring districts, its state funding entitlement would have been much lower, and it likely would have become Community-Supported much earlier.

A Strong Regional Role — With Lower Funding per Student

Foothill-De Anza serves a large and highly regional student population. Many students attend part time, so the number of individual students served is substantially larger than the district's full-time-equivalent student count.

Foothill-De Anza's reach also extends well beyond its district boundaries.

In Fall 2023, 8,295 students living in San José or Milpitas attended De Anza College — more than attended either Evergreen Valley College or San José City College individually.

Source: San José–Evergreen Community College District, 2025 External Environmental Scan

That illustrates the important regional role Foothill and De Anza play throughout Silicon Valley.

But under Community-Supported funding, serving more students no longer brings a comparable increase in core funding. At the same time, Foothill-De Anza has about $10,500 in operating funds per full-time-equivalent student (FTES), compared with roughly $16,600 - $17,300 at the neighboring Community-Supported districts.

At a June 24, 2026 Board of Trustees presentation, Foothill-De Anza reviewed its districtwide enrollment and demographic trends. Its enrollment heat map shows the district's regional reach, with student concentrations extending across the South Peninsula and into San José, Santa Clara, and Milpitas — well beyond the district's boundaries.

The Board presentation focused on Foothill-De Anza's own enrollment and demographic trends; the cross-district comparisons in this article were not part of that presentation.

What Could Community-Supported Funding Mean for Foothill-De Anza?

Foothill-De Anza's transition to Community-Supported funding comes at a time when the district is working with less operating revenue than under its previous funding environment.

Neighboring Community-Supported districts have made different choices about how local funding benefits residents. West Valley–Mission offers free enrollment to district residents, with no income requirement and no requirement to pursue a degree or certificate. San Mateo waives enrollment fees for district residents pursuing a degree or certificate.

Class-enrollment thresholds also differ: Foothill-De Anza generally uses 20 students, compared with about 16 at West Valley–Mission and 15 for many San Mateo classes.

Foothill-De Anza is also redesigning its Resource Allocation Model because the old model relied heavily on enrollment, while enrollment is no longer the main driver of district revenue under Community-Supported funding.

That creates important choices about whom the district serves, what benefits local residents should receive, how classes and programs are offered, and how limited resources should be allocated.

Questions We Should Be Asking

Who should Foothill-De Anza serve?

• How should the district balance its regional role with service to local residents?
• Should Foothill-De Anza continue seeking enrollment growth when additional students no longer bring comparable core funding?
• Should the district seek additional revenue by growing international and out-of-state enrollment?

What benefits should district residents receive?

• Should district residents receive free or reduced enrollment fees?
• Should they receive priority access to high-demand classes, where legally permitted?
• Should some seats in oversubscribed classes be reserved for district residents?

How should classes and programs change?

• Should Foothill-De Anza lower its minimum-enrollment guideline for keeping a class open?
• Should more low-enrollment classes be preserved when students need them to complete a degree, certificate, or transfer pathway?
• Should there be more evening, weekend, hybrid, and short-term courses for working adults?
• Should Foothill-De Anza expand short-term and stackable certificates?

How should limited resources be used?

• Which investments would provide the greatest educational value?
• Which new programs can be sustained over time?
• How should the district prepare if property-tax growth slows?

An Opportunity to Think Differently

Foothill-De Anza enters Community-Supported funding with an unusual set of challenges.

Only about 40% of its students live within the district, even though local property taxes now provide most of its core operating funding. At the same time, Foothill-De Anza has substantially less operating funding per FTES — neighboring Community-Supported districts have about 60% more.

Yet Foothill and De Anza also play an important regional role, serving students from throughout Silicon Valley. In some neighboring communities, more residents attend Foothill-De Anza than attend either college in their own community college district.

The transition gives Foothill-De Anza an opportunity to reconsider how enrollment, class offerings, student benefits, and resources should be aligned under this new funding model.

The central question is:

How can Foothill-De Anza use its available resources to provide the greatest educational value — to its students, the broader region it serves, and especially the local communities that fund it?