Bachelor's degrees from California community colleges on horizon
California's community college students could soon stay put -- and pay a lot less -- to earn what they thought they would have to go elsewhere to get: a four-year bachelor's degree.
As the demand for college graduates grows, many states are turning to their two-year schools for help -- and California might do the same, allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees that aren't readily available at nearby public universities.
"Now is the time to look at what innovations might be good for the state, and what might actually save us money in the long run," said state Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, whose Senate Bill 850 would authorize the change.
First-year student Xin Xie listens to clinical instructor Evelyn Joyce Bettencourt, right, in the dental hygiene program at Foothill College as she works on student partner, Ashley Mork, during class in Los Altos Hills, Feb. 4, 2014. (Gary Reyes, Bay Area News Group)
The startup would be small scale -- just one program per campus for a select few college districts.
The argument goes like this: Two-year associate degrees are becoming insufficient for some fields, such as nursing and respiratory therapy, but bachelor's degree programs in those areas are scarce. Expanding community college programs would help students complete a bachelor's degree quickly, without the hassle, the expense of transferring to another school and the dreaded delays.
Ruby Guzman waited three years to get into the Contra Costa College nursing program, and now -- on the cusp of an associate degree -- she is waiting again. She and classmates aspiring to transfer to a four-year program are on CSU East Bay's waiting list.
"It just feels like roadblock after roadblock," Guzman said.
Offering bachelor's degrees in nursing at community colleges would ease students' anxiety and position them for more promising careers, said Marshall Alameida, Contra Costa College's director of nursing.
Community colleges in 21 states offer four-year degree programs.
"I'd just like to see California catch up with the rest of the nation," said Linda Thor, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, where programs are preparing for