Bachelor’s degrees from community colleges face opposition in light of their perks

Community colleges in California have been trying to create bachelor’s degree programs for over a decade. But the UCs and CSUs have tried to slow their efforts.

By Daimler Koch, Editor-in-Chief

(Michel Melichar for the Valley Star)

Community colleges want to continue to offer four-year degrees for their students while ignoring opposition from the UCs and CSUs. 

The two-year institutions were given the power to establish bachelor’s programs beginning in 2014. Since then, 45 California Community Colleges created, or plan to offer, such programs. Degrees offered include biomanufacturing, cybersecurity and dental hygiene. 

According to a study by UC Davis, 58 percent of graduates from these programs said they would not have pursued a bachelor’s if it hadn’t been offered. In addition, the tuition for these bachelor’s programs totals $10,560 for all four years; in comparison, the average UC tuition is $15,588 per year, while the average CSU tuition is $6,450 per year.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for a lot of students who are trying to get a cheaper education,” said Andrii Lysak, a business analytics major.

Students have shown clear interest in the programs. In the 2022-23 academic year, community colleges in the state awarded 311 bachelor’s degrees. More locally, West LA College’s dental hygiene program has awarded over 100 graduates as of 2024. 

Valley College introduced a bachelor’s in respiratory therapy in 2023. The program currently teaches 30 students per one-year cycle, and graduated its first class of 26 students in December.

Romeo Aguilar, a music technology major, said that if his major was offered at Valley as a bachelor’s degree, he would take it for convenience.

“You might as well just get everything done in one place, you know?” he said. 

Nevertheless, community colleges’ ability to offer bachelor’s degrees has been a point of contention between them and public four-year institutions in the state.

In 2021, lawmakers passed AB 927, which prevented community colleges from creating their own baccalaureate programs without consulting the UCs and CSUs first. That way, community colleges could begin to offer bachelor’s programs without duplicating the degrees UCs and CSUs offered. If a nearby UC or CSU already offers the degree, the community college can’t offer it. Additionally, community colleges must already offer an associate’s in that degree.

In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed community colleges to establish pilot programs for bachelor’s degrees in nursing. 

And in January, lawmakers created AB 664. The bill would grant the Southwestern Community College District the power to create up to four baccalaureate programs of their choosing. In response, the UC and CSU systems released statements opposing the bill. Both said that AB 664 would allow the SCCD to create bachelor’s programs without consulting them first and duplicating degrees. 

In particular, the CSU said that the passage of AB 664 might set a precedent for other community college districts to do the same.

“This broad authority raises significant concerns of unfettered duplication of existing baccalaureate degree programs and the inefficient use of state resources,” the CSU’s Senior Legislative Advocate Christopher Morales said in a statement released early January. 

Valley’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, Jennifer Cole, said that the SCCD “is not really served geographically by a local UC or CSU.”  The nearest public four-year is San Diego State University, 18 miles away.

“So I think there is a real need to make sure that we are serving all of the potential students in the state of California, including students that are outside of the immediate service area of a local CSU and UC,” she said.

However, she doesn’t see an overall conflict between four-year and two-year institutions throughout the state, noting they all served the same goal in the end.

“I hope that, you know, we can, all three of us – the California Community Colleges, the CSUs and the UCs – can continue to, sort of, work together to make sure that all of the people of California are able to move forward with their educational and career goals,” she said.