With a proposed early retirement for eligible employees at Palomar College, officials are looking at the pros and cons.

It will save the college $2.7 million, according to Palomar President Robert Deegan.

“This is absolutely to save money,” Deegan said.

He also added that it will be beneficial for students on campus because it will increase diversity.

Eligible employees have until April 3 to sign up for the incentive plan.

When a college loses older faculty, then the college can hire new, younger faculty at a lower pay rate.

Vice President of Human Resources John Tortarolo, said the negative side of losing older faculty members is a loss of experience, but the positives outweighs the negatives.

“Students are changing, so faculty must change,” said Teresa Laughlin, lead negotiator for the Palomar Faculty Federation.

A downside to adding part-time faculty to fill in for the lost members who retired is less office hours which creates less access for students, Laughlin said.