California becomes battleground over bachelor’s degrees at community colleges


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In mid-April, two powerful California lawmakers urged the state’s community college leaders in a letter to pause part of a pilot that allows these institutions to offer bachelor’s degrees.

Fifteen California community colleges have offered four-year degrees under the pilot since at least 2017. In 2021, lawmakers greatly expanded the program, allowing the community college system to establish up to 30 new bachelor’s programs each year. 

The expansion comes with an important caveat — the state’s community colleges cannot offer a four-year program already provided by the California State University or the University of California systems.

Community colleges and public four-year institutions often work together on student success and degree attainment, creating transfer pathways that help students enroll in bachelor’s programs after graduating with associate degrees. But the pilot in California grants two-year colleges more power than they’ve traditionally had, throwing a wrench into that partnership and leading to disputes over new community college baccalaureate degrees.

State Sen. Josh Newman and Assemblyman Mike Fong  Democrats who respectively serve as the chairs of the Senate’s education committee and the Assembly’s higher education committee  on April 18 asked the California Community Colleges system to pause applications for new bachelor’s degree programs. 

Pressure from Cal State likely spurred the lawmakers to make their request, according to Larry Galizio, president and CEO of the Community College League of California, which supports the pilot.

Critics of California’s degree pilot say bachelor’s programs at community colleges could cannibalize students, hurting enrollment at the state’s four-year institutions. But supporters assert such offerings would reach those who otherwise wouldn’t attain four-year degrees and help address workforce shortages.

A break would give leaders from California’s higher education systems time to better define what counts as program duplication, improve the intersystem consultation process and create a dispute resolution process, the letter said.

Newman and Fong did not provide additional comment when asked about their letter.

As of May 4, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office is still reviewing the next cycle of bachelor’s degree program applications and has requested a meeting with the lawmakers, according to a system spokesperson. A working group, called for by the Cal State chancellor, has met since mid-April to create a process for four-year institutions to challenge bachelor’s degrees programs at community colleges. 

The group includes California’s four-year systems — Cal State and the University of California — as well as the California Community Colleges system and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, which represents private colleges in the state. It plans to meet again Thursday, the spokesperson said. 

Pausing the pilot would give that working group much-needed time to improve degree implementation and processes for addressing university system objections over new programs, said Nathan Evans, deputy vice chancellor of academic and student affairs at Cal State’s chancellor’s office. He added that Cal State wasn’t adequately consulted when the program first launched. 

“It was very much like building the plane as you’re flying it,” he said. “There was not that opportunity for early engagement at the statewide level.”

Putting out fires

Feather River College, a rural community college in northern California, has found itself at the center of conversation around the state’s pilot program.

At the beginning of last year, Feather River made a bid to offer a bachelor’s degree in applied fire management. 

Amid worsening climate conditions, California is experiencing its most severe firefighter shortage in years. The Sierra Nevada mountain range, where Feather River is located, is especially hard hit.



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Laura Spitalniak

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