\n<\/p>\n
Last month, state lawmakers in Iowa introduced a bill that would allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees\u2014and unwittingly triggered a turf war. <\/p>\n
While community college advocates argued the lower-cost degrees would benefit students in a state with vast rural expanses and education deserts, private universities countered that community colleges are stepping out of bounds and infringing on their territory. Greg Steinke, the president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, even went so far as to say the move could put some institutions out of business, telling lawmakers a few weeks ago that \u201cwithout any question and without any doubt,\u201d if the bill passed, \u201csome of our private colleges will close.\u201d <\/p>\n
Legislators got the message. On Jan. 28, the Iowa House higher education committee amended the bill to impose some limits. Community college baccalaureate degrees would be introduced as a pilot program: Two-year institutions would be allowed to offer no more than three baccalaureate degrees, and only if they are at least 50 miles away from a university offering a similar option. <\/p>\n
Emily Shields, executive director of Community Colleges for Iowa, said she was surprised by the level of resistance from universities. State lawmakers tasked her organization with producing a report on the feasibility of bringing community college baccalaureate degrees to Iowa, which found \u201ca pretty clear need\u201d for more bachelor\u2019s degree options in the state, she said\u2014especially for students who are place-bound or concerned about costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t see this as an existential threat to any of [the universities], and that certainly isn\u2019t the goal,\u201d said Shields. \u201cI really don\u2019t think there\u2019s evidence from other states to back up that fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steinke said the evidence lies in how the free market works.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents and consumers will go to the cheapest place,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be a struggle, and there are some of our institutions that won\u2019t be able to tolerate the struggle. Some of the presidents of my association\u00a0\u2026 don\u2019t like me to say that, because they don\u2019t want the word out there that they could close,\u201d he added. \u201cBut how can there be any other outcome?\u201d<\/p>\n
Similar negotiations\u2014and tensions\u2014are playing out across the country as community college baccalaureate degrees expand and pique the interest of state lawmakers. More than 200 community colleges in 24 states now offer a total of at least 767 bachelor\u2019s degrees, according to the Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA). And that number is bound to grow as a handful of new states consider introducing these options.<\/p>\n
Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker threw his support behind community college baccalaureate degrees last year, and two-year colleges in the state continue to advocate for legislation to make them happen. Massachusetts already has one community college offering four-year degrees, but college leaders hope to expand the opportunity to more, said Angela Kersenbrock, president of the CCBA. And other states\u2014including Maryland and Nebraska\u2014are exploring the possibility or considering expansions.<\/p>\n
Kersenbrock described the moment as a near \u201ctipping point\u201d for the community college baccalaureate movement, with almost half of states now embracing these degrees.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers are drawn to the option because \u201cit\u2019s the right thing to do,\u201d she said. When states need more trained workers\u2014and universities are at capacity or don\u2019t offer certain workforce-oriented bachelor\u2019s degree programs\u2014community college baccalaureate degrees are a way to \u201creally leverage what community colleges do best, and that is responding to labor market needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such programs enjoy rare bipartisan support, cropping up in Democratic-led states like California and Washington, as well as in Republican strongholds such as Texas and Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunity college baccalaureates are not red and they\u2019re not blue,\u201d Kersenbrock said. \u201cThey sit right in the middle \u00a0\u2026 We need more talent, and we have people in our communities who can do this job. Why not give people the opportunity?\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted that the programs have become especially popular in states with large rural areas to prevent students from moving away to attend universities. Many lead to applied baccalaureate degrees in specific workforce-oriented fields\u2014such as respiratory therapy or dental hygiene\u2014which appeal to states or regions seeking to address worker shortages.<\/p>\n
For example, Feather River College, a small rural institution in California, has graduated 99 students from its ecosystem restoration and applied fire management as well as equine and ranch management programs, \u201chigh-need fields in a region facing extreme fire risk and economic vulnerability,\u201d James Todd, vice chancellor of academic affairs for the California Community Colleges system, wrote in an email.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many students in that region, pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree elsewhere simply is not feasible,\u201d Todd said. The nearest public four-year university is more than 80 miles away.<\/p>\n
An intentional fire was set at Feather River College to ensure the health of its forested campus. The campus now has an ecosystem restoration and applied fire management bachelor\u2019s degree to train students in such practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Feather River College<\/p>\n
Over the last decade, California community colleges got approval for more than 50 bachelor\u2019s degree programs, offered by roughly 40 colleges across the state. The number of students admitted to the 11 bachelor\u2019s degree programs offered by Maricopa Community Colleges in Arizona has grown 15\u00a0percent year over year. The system expects to hit 10,000 enrolled students this year and plans to more than double its number of baccalaureate programs by 2032. Currently, 61\u00a0percent of those enrolled are first-generation college students, and 78.4\u00a0percent are continuing or former students within the community college system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn just two years, we have seen extraordinary growth with our bachelor\u2019s degree programs, which is undoubtedly associated with the lower per-credit-hour cost,\u201d Steven R. Gonzales, chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges, said in a news release. A bachelor\u2019s degree at Arizona State University for an in-state student can cost up to $47,000. At Maricopa Community Colleges, students from the county can earn a bachelor\u2019s for $14,550. <\/p>\n
Simon Kaminski, who is earning a bachelor of applied science in data analytics and programming at Mesa Community College, said thanks to a scholarship, his degree is going to cost him roughly $3,000. <\/p>\n
\u201cI pretty much paid nothing for a bachelor\u2019s degree, which is always amazing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Kaminski found out Mesa offered bachelor\u2019s degrees after he earned his associate degree there, and said he was \u201cshocked\u201d that was even an option. The low-cost opportunity to continue on at a campus that was already familiar felt too good to pass up. And he\u2019s glad he did, he said, both because of the price and the program\u2019s focus on hands-on projects. <\/p>\n
Preston Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, pointed out in a blog post last week that even as they grow, two-year-college baccalaureate programs remain relatively small. In 2021\u201322, out of the more than two\u00a0million bachelor\u2019s degrees awarded nationally, community colleges accounted for just over 15,000 four-year degrees.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, he believes that allowing community colleges \u201cto apply their low-cost model to bachelor\u2019s degrees\u201d is a net positive because it can drive \u201ccompetition that could force the rest of the higher education system to reduce costs, too.”<\/p>\n
But in Iowa and elsewhere, not everyone is eager for more competition.<\/p>\n
Four-year colleges and universities have long tried to prevent their two-year counterparts from introducing bachelor\u2019s programs, worried that community colleges are encroaching on their signature offerings. Their leaders argue that two-year institutions should be investing in better transfer processes to bachelor\u2019s degree\u2013granting institutions, not standing up their own. <\/p>\n
Sometimes it seems like a losing argument. <\/p>\n
In 2021, after years of advocacy, Arizona passed legislation permitting community college baccalaureate degrees, despite staunch opposition from the Arizona Board of Regents, which represents the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. (The programs aren\u2019t allowed to replicate university offerings, but four-year institutions don\u2019t have veto power over which programs are approved.) A similar conflict broke out in Idaho last year when four-year colleges opposed a proposal for a bachelor of applied science in business administration at the College of Western Idaho, partly over concerns it duplicated their programs.<\/p>\n
Students earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in artificial intelligence at Chandler-Gilbert Community College attend class.<\/span><\/p>\n Maricopa Community Colleges<\/p>\n Now the California State University system and California Community Colleges are battling over a set of proposed baccalaureate programs that CSU flagged as duplicative. Sixteen proposed degrees are at issue, including seven first proposed in 2023.<\/p>\n For some of the programs, only one CSU campus has objected, whereas for others, \u201cseven or eight CSUs have said, \u2018When we look at the courses, the curriculum and the outcomes and what types of roles these are filling, these are absolutely duplicative of programs that we have,\u2019\u201d said Nathan Evans, associate vice chancellor of academic affairs for the CSU system.<\/p>\n But he also stressed that the two systems are trying to \u201cwork toward the same objective of creating access to postsecondary opportunities in California.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd, of the California community college system, stands behind community colleges\u2019 process for determining duplication, noting that colleges must submit \u201cextensive documentation\u201d demonstrating unmet workforce need and an analysis of how the proposed program compares to existing CSU and University of California offerings.<\/p>\n \u201cDeliberative conversations\u201d are underway with CSU representatives about the proposals in limbo, Todd said. \u201cIt would be premature to comment on the next steps until those conversations have concluded.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a familiar pattern. In California, the community college and four-year systems have repeatedly duked it out over such proposals since a 2021 California law first allowed community colleges to stand up new baccalaureate degree programs. Under the law, community colleges can apply to offer up to 30 new four-year programs annually if the programs don\u2019t replicate existing programs at state universities. That is evaluated in a review process with representatives of the California State University system and the University of California system, followed by approval from the California Community College system chancellor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Those reviews have grown so contentious that the community college system contracted the nonprofit WestEd last year to analyze possible duplication issues and ways to improve the review process with the CSU system. WestEd\u2019s report, released last summer, concluded that the systems seem to be working with different definitions of \u201cunnecessary duplication,\u201d and while there is overlap between proposed and existing programs, CSU\u2019s objections can be overly broad. Evans said CSU\u2019s faculty concerns, and ways of defining duplication, weren\u2019t appropriately factored into the WestEd study. <\/p>\n Legislation to introduce new types of community college baccalaureate degrees have also been a recent source of contention in the state. Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill in 2024 that would have allowed community colleges to offer a bachelor of science in nursing, arguing that systems should be collaborating on nursing education and the bill could \u201cinadvertently hurt\u201d partnerships. More recent legislation that would allow Southwestern College to offer up to four more bachelor\u2019s degrees\u2014in applied forensic science, allied health education and leadership, teaching English to non-English speakers, and web design\u2014has advanced to the California Senate, despite opposition from the CSU and UC systems.<\/p>\n The programs proposed in the bill are \u201cdesigned to complement, not compete with, the four-year universities,\u201d Todd said.<\/p>\n But Evans sees such bills as \u201cproblematic because they\u2019re not thinking big picture,\u201d he argued. \u201cThese are just sort of nibbling around the edges, creating friction\u201d versus taking a more \u201cwholesale\u201d approach to student access and sorting out differences over community colleges\u2019 four-year degrees. <\/p>\n Despite these squabbles, some potential models for collaboration are emerging.<\/p>\n Brian Durham, executive director of the Illinois Community College Board, said he\u2019s \u201chopeful\u201d his state will adopt community college baccalaureate degrees soon, in part because the colleges \u201cnegotiated pretty extensively\u201d with universities, which pushed back on legislation proposed last year.<\/p>\n A new agreed-upon version, which the board expects to see introduced this year, offers the universities multiple opportunities for input on new baccalaureate programs and puts limits on the number of nursing programs per region to avoid \u201ctoo much competition,” Durham said. As a result, Illinois university leaders have since adopted a more neutral stance.<\/p>\n A statement from a coalition of public and private university leaders last year said that the group \u201cwill take no position on the merits\u201d but acknowledged that \u201cthe shifting landscape of higher education, heightened uncertainty, and our commitment to our institutions and the students of Illinois require us to be vigilant and monitor the implementation of this proposal.\u201d <\/p>\n Steinke, of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said the guardrails put in place matter. He contended that the conversation in his state might have gone differently if Iowa community colleges and universities initially worked together to develop a set of unique programs that universities don\u2019t cover. <\/p>\n Evans, of the CSU system, agreed there are ways to improve tensions between the two sectors. For example, representatives from both the CSU and California Community Colleges are exploring ways to communicate earlier about possible program duplications, rather than hash it out after colleges have already gone through the labor of drafting intensive proposals. Newsom\u2019s administration is also working to set up a California Education Intersegmental Council to ensure better coordination between the state\u2019s two-year and four-year higher ed systems.<\/p>\n Kersenbrock emphasized that universities are \u201ca major resource for this country\u201d and community college baccalaureate advocates \u201cdon\u2019t want them to get hurt at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Creating community college baccalaureate degrees \u201ctakes real, intentional work. It takes trust on everybody\u2019s side. It takes assurances,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At the same time, she believes smaller, private four-year universities that attract out-of-state students may need to reckon with whether their programs serve the same state needs that community college programs do.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you have to just ask those questions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Durham said the growth of community college baccalaureates represents a broader blurring of the lines between higher education sectors right now. For example, dual-enrollment classes for high school students have rapidly expanded at community colleges, and four-year institutions are starting to offer more short-term programs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt reflects the changing landscape of education,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are going to have to recognize that there\u2019s some blend happening\u00a0\u2026 and that\u2019s a good thing. Ultimately, it\u2019s about students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last month, state lawmakers in Iowa introduced a bill that would allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees\u2014and unwittingly triggered a turf war. While community college advocates argued the lower-cost degrees would benefit students in a state with vast rural expanses and education deserts, private universities countered that community colleges are stepping out of bounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[22081,535,534,16766,2171],"class_list":{"0":"post-44077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-bachelors","9":"tag-college","10":"tag-community","11":"tag-degrees","12":"tag-fight"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Reaching Agreements<\/h2>\n