The California Community Colleges Board of Governors met on Tuesday in Sacramento to discuss the baccalaureate degree program, a program intended to change the expectation of obtaining higher education in California.
Today, the state consists of 112 community colleges, which until now have only offered a two-year associates degree to its attending students. Out of 34 applicants, 15 community colleges were chosen throughout the state by Chancellor Harris and endorsed by the system’s board of governors.
Once approved, the chosen colleges will begin offering bachelor’s degrees that are geared towards being career-oriented. The specified degrees will prepare the community college students for obtaining jobs that would normally require only two years of training and education in a specific technical field.
Some of the fields offered would include, law enforcement, dental hygienist and automotive repair technician.
The bill was originally authored last year by Democratic state Sen. Marty Block and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The intent of the bill is to prepare students for the workforce and to give them an advantage in achieving a job in a competitive work environment.
Students pursuing their bachelor’s degree at the specified community college will be subject to paying an additional fee of $84 per unit for the upper-division courses. The provided specialized courses are ones that would not be provided on a California State University or University of California campus.
California’s community colleges are estimated to have more than 2.1 million students and is said to be the largest system of higher education in the United States.
As stated in the legislature, the bill will prohibit each participating district from offering more than one baccalaureate degree program within each district. Once approved, California will become the 22nd state to offer bachelor degrees in community colleges.
On Tuesday, the Board of Governors provided their approval with nine voted in favor and two abstentions. The board will now meet with each of the 15 schools individually to complete the consultation and review process.
The 15 selected community college programs will be subject to a final vote in March. Once approved, the chosen community colleges will be starting the programs by the 2017-2018 academic year.
