Maricopa Community Colleges are calling the state of Arizona to restore foundational operating aid. The colleges say they have received $0 in state operating aid since 2015. Since recession-era cuts eliminated operating aid, the District says it has gone without more than $655 million in state support. This has forced the District to rely exclusively on tuition and local property taxes to maintain its operations.
Currently, Maricopa Community Colleges and Pima Community College are the only two districts in the state that receive no such funding. In 2024, the District educated 125,226 Arizona residents, surpassing the combined in-state enrollment of all three Arizona public universities.
Steven R. Gonzales, Chancellor for the Maricopa Community Colleges, joined “Arizona Horizon” to explain the issues through this process and how they can be resolved.
