MATT KRUPNICK

“I like Alaska, I don’t love Alaska. But I love Virgin,” said one 29-year-old passenger. “I think of it as a young, hip airline. Alaska is more of a friendly aunt.”

Endowed with a freshman’s hunger for independence, Alix Generous thought she could conquer college without seeking help for the learning disabilities she’d dealt with since she was 11. She was wrong.

When City College of San Francisco was given a year to rein in a massive debt, fix deteriorating facilities and bring its academic courses up to standards, it wasn’t state or federal regulators that were threatening to close the college if it didn’t respond. Nor was it parents, legislators or impatient bankers.

In an ethnically themed shopping center called Plaza Mexico just south of Los Angeles, a public university from the Mexican state of Colima has planted its flag.