The class is half the size, the cost is half the price and the enrollment is half the hassle.

And the credit still counts at the UA.

These are among the reasons students enroll in classes outside the university.

University of Arizona students are drawn to Pima Community College by lower cost and smaller, easier-to-get classes, stated Philip Silvers, senior assistant to the chancellor at Pima Community College, in a study done by his office.

More than 2,000 students were dually enrolled at Pima and the UA during the 1993-94 school year, according the most recent data made available by the UA Student Research Office.

"The appeal for attending Pima is the lower cost of classes," said Robert Zuur, East Asian studies sophomore who took math classes at Pima.

The study states that 20 percent of the students polled listed cost as their most important reason for attending Pima.

"Not only is it cheaper to attend Pima but there is less competition for grades," said John Morse, marketing junior, who takes Spanish classes at Pima.

The UA is a university, while Pima is a junior college. Pima takes people who are not prepared for higher education and brings them up to speed, said Susan Steele, associate vice provost for undergraduate education at the UA. At the university, students earn bachelor's degrees.

"Pima has a different mission from the UA," she said.

Michael McCarley, media arts junior, finds the classes at both campuses comparable.

"The UA and Pima use the same books for Spanish, and the class time is about the same. It's just more efficient for me to attend class twice a week rather than four times a

week," he said.

Spanish classes make up 14 percent of all Pima classes transferred to the UA. About half the students dually enrolled take three or fewer credits at Pima.

Math is the top transfer class with 20 percent transferring, followed by business classes at 9 percent and English writing classes at 8 percent.

A variety of other classes make up the additional transfer credits.

Eighteen percent of the students polled by the study listed smaller classes as their reason for attending Pima.

"The teachers at Pima seem to have more available for help, probably because it is a smaller, less formal environment," McMarley said.

Students thought the quality of courses at Pima were the same as or better than the UA courses, Silvers stated.

Denise Davis, criminal psychology senior, said the reason she takes classes at Pima is that "the classes are more one-on-one."

Silvers stated in the study, "With the smaller class size, instructors are able to provide more personalized attention."

"Some students found the courses easier, but students also reported that the material at Pima is well explained and discussed in depth," he stated.

According to the study, 17 percent of students polled said classes were easier to get into at Pima.

Malcolm Compitello, UA Spanish and Portuguese department head, said since less first-year Spanish classes are available at the UA, students may be going to Pima to fulfill their foreign language requirement.

The number of first-year Spanish classes has been reduced by two-thirds at the UA over the last five years, Compitello said.

Students generally place high on Spanish assessment tests because admission standards require high school students to take two years of foreign language before entering the university. Because the need for first-year courses is low, more emphasis has been placed on upper-division Spanish classes, Steele said.

Transfer students follow different admission requirements, which do not include foreign language background. Many times transfer students have little or no foreign language experience and need the first-year courses to get started.

"The transfer issue is an important one on campus, since 70 percent or more students graduate with transfer credits," said Richard Kroc, director of the UA Student Research Office.

The three universities and the 22 community colleges in Arizona agreed more than 31/2 years ago to make transferring schools easier for students.

A course-by-course equivalency guide was created to match community college courses with equivalent university courses.

A community college transfer guide corresponds to the major the student plans to complete at a university, and a block transfer guide, which meets the general graduation requirements at a university, allows students who are undecided about their majors begin their educational careers.

"A lot is being done to make transferring schools run smoother," Steele said.