In a historic first for public education in the state, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Sunday that allows community colleges to award bachelor’s degrees in fields not currently served by the California State University or University of California schools.
Gavilan College, which serves residents in San Benito County and Santa Clara counties, is one of 112 colleges in the state waiting to see the list of 15 campuses chosen for the pilot program.
“Overall we believe, it’s a good thing to give students more options,” said Jan Bernstein-Chargin, the director of public information for Gavilan. “It will be interesting to see how this is implemented.”
If Gavilan is selected as a site for a pilot program, the college might open its academic offerings to include classes in such topics as dental hygiene, industrial technology, applied health technology, data management for health care or how to work as an emergency medical technician. At the moment, students cannot earn bachelor’s degrees in any of these subjects from UCs or CSUs.
The new legislation authored by Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, directs the California Community Colleges system to establish pilot bachelor’s degree programs in 15 college districts by no later than the 2017-18 academic year.
According to Bernstein-Chargin, the change makes education more accessible to students – especially those that don’t live near CSU or UC campuses, but still wish to pursue higher education at a bachelor’s degree level.
“For a lot of students, geography can really be a barrier,” she said. “Bringing bachelor’s degrees to more locations would give more students the opportunity to continue their education.”
The legislation is a shift from the original California Master Plan for Higher Education – enacted in the 1960s – which had UCs offer doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degrees; CSUs award bachelor’s and master’s degrees; and community colleges offer lower division coursework, associate degrees and certificates. Since then, the workforce needs have changed and CSUs, for instance, have been allowed to offer doctoral degrees in three areas: education, nursing and physical therapy.
Allowing community colleges to move beyond lower division coursework, associate degrees and certificates – to offering bachelor’s degree programs in select subjects – takes changes to the state master plan to another level.
“This law will help us to meet California’s workforce needs, does not duplicate CSU or UC degree programs, and gives more Californians access to affordable higher education that can enable them to obtain well-paying jobs,” said Brice W. Harris, the California Community Colleges chancellor, in a press release.
The governor’s decision to sign the legislation also moves the state in line with a nationwide movement. Across the country, community colleges in 21 states offer almost 500 baccalaureate programs, according to a press release from the chancellor’s office. But the governor’s decision to pilot bachelor’s degree programs in California is especially significant because the California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation. The system contains 72 districts and serves 2.1 million students each year, according to the same press release.
For students pursuing studies under the new pilot bachelor’s programs at community colleges, the cost of higher education will also be significantly less than pursuing a bachelor’s degree from a California State University, where a single quarter unit can cost $248 and a semester unit can cost $375. Under the new law, community colleges would charge $130 per unit, just $84 more than the cost of taking a unit of lower division coursework at the school.
As the pilot programs roll out, the Legislative Analyst’s Office will conduct an interim evaluation of the bachelor’s degree program in 2018 and a final evaluation by July 2022. The pilot program will end in the 2022-23 academic year unless extended by the Legislature.
While administrators at Gavilan are still waiting to see if their campus will pilot a bachelor’s degree program, Bernstein-Chargin sees the change as a movement in favor of making higher education accessible to local students.
“I think it shows the value of having colleges in the community and the ability to get an education close to where you live,” she said.
