Community College Music Programs Are on the Chopping Block

""I don't think it would've happened any other way,""

""It's all about creating a community of people of all different backgrounds and providing these networking opportunities.""

Setareh Mofidi enrolled in Portland Community College's Music and Sonic Arts program in 2017 to pursue audio engineering, drawn to a balance of music theory and hands-on technical training like creative coding. Classes included midcareer working musicians and students planning transfers to schools such as Berklee. Mofidi progressed from teaching assistant to part-time instructor, covering multiple classes per semester and working without debt while benefiting from peer networks and faculty who were often program graduates. After five years teaching, PCC confronted a nearly $15 million deficit and considered cuts to programs, asking instructors to justify usefulness by cost efficiency, course completion rates, and graduate job prospects, a departure from prior budget reductions that typically spared faculty positions.

Read at Portland Monthly