California Community College Baccalaureate Pilot Program Sparks Multi-Party Contest

In mid-April, two influential California state legislators sent a letter to the leaders of the state's community college system, requesting a pause on parts of a pilot program that allows community colleges to award bachelor's degrees.

Since 2017, 15 community colleges in California have offered four-year degrees under the pilot program. In 2021, lawmakers significantly expanded the program, allowing the community college system to establish up to30 new bachelor's degree programs each year。

This expansion came with a significant restriction—community colleges could not offer four-year programs already available within the California State University (Cal State) or University of California (UC) systems.

Community colleges and public four-year institutions typically collaborate on student success and degree attainment, establishing transfer pathways that help students enter bachelor's degree programs after earning an associate degree. However, California's pilot program grants two-year colleges more power than ever before, disrupting this partnership and sparking controversy over new community college bachelor's degree programs.

State Senator Josh Newman and Assemblymember Mike Fong—Democrats who chair the Senate Education Committee and the Assembly Higher Education Committee, respectively—requested on April 18 that the California Community Colleges system pause applications for new bachelor's degree programs.

According to Larry Galizio, president and CEO of the Community College League of California, which supports the pilot program, pressure from Cal State may have prompted the legislators' request.

Critics of California's degree pilot program argue that community college bachelor's degree programs could divert existing enrollment and harm admissions at the state's four-year institutions. But supporters contend that such programs reach populations that would otherwise not obtain a four-year degree and help address workforce shortages.

The letter stated that the pause would provide time for leaders of California's higher education system to better define what constitutes program duplication, improve inter-system consultation processes, and establish dispute resolution mechanisms.

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

As of May 4, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office was still reviewing the next round of bachelor's degree program applications and had requested a meeting with the legislators, according to a system spokesperson. A working group convened by the Cal State chancellor has met since mid-April to develop a process for four-year institutions to challenge community college bachelor's degree programs.

The working 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. The spokesperson said the working group plans to meet again on Thursday.

Nathan Evans, deputy vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at the Cal State Chancellor's Office, said pausing the pilot would give the working group much-needed time to improve the degree implementation process and address university system objections to new programs. He added that Cal State was not adequately consulted when the program initially launched.

"It's like building the plane while flying it," he said. "There was no opportunity for early involvement at the state level."

Firefighting efforts

Feather River College, located in rural Northern California, has become a focal point in discussions about the state's pilot program.

Early last year, Feather River College submitted an application to offer a bachelor's degree in applied fire management.

Amid worsening climate conditions, California is facing itsmost severe firefighter shortage in years. The Sierra Nevada region where Feather River College is located has been particularly hard hit.

"Given the frequency of recent large-scale wildfires in California, graduates of the proposed program would immediately provide a workforce to address the impacts of past fires and prevent future catastrophic fires," college president Kevin Trutna said at the timesaid。

Cal State immediately objected to the application. Its leaders said the program was too similar to the fire science curriculum at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo anda program planned for fall 2023 at Cal Poly Humboldt.

In February of this year, the community college system approved the program anyway, angering Cal State leaders.

Cal State Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester said at a March board meeting that approving the program violated the rules of the pilot program's expansion and ignored "serious and sustained" collaborative efforts.

"Despite clear program duplication and the lack of a legally required written agreement between the two sectors, the approval went through," she said.

According to Evans, among more than 20 applications, Feather River College's was the only one objected to by Cal State. He also said Humboldt was willing to work with Feather River College to develop a joint bachelor's degree program, co-delivered in the Plumas County area.

But according to Galizio, president of the Community College League of California, Feather River College leadership had attempted to contact Humboldt before the new bachelor's program was approved, but the latter was not receptive to a dual-degree program.

The program remains a point of contention. For supporters of community college bachelor's degrees, the fire management program highlights a flaw in the pilot program's parameters—the absence of geographic restrictions when determining program duplication.

Cal Poly Humboldt is about 260 miles from Feather River College, a drive of roughly five and a half hours. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is about 460 miles away, a drive of nearly eight hours.

"The idea that Northern California can only have one fire management/ecosystem restoration program is frankly absurd," Galizio said. "California has 116 community colleges, and we must leverage that capacity, especially for students and families who are geographically constrained."

Separate student pools

Galizio finds the resistance to expanding the bachelor's degree pilot program more broadly puzzling.

"We are not diverting students," he said. "These are students who, because of the affordability and geographic convenience of the degree, would not otherwise pursue a bachelor's degree."

Recent research from UCLA's Civil Rights Project supports Galizio's claim. The study found that the state's higher education systems are not directly competing for the same students.

"Concerns about program duplication in the higher education market are greatly exaggerated because community colleges have always served a different student population than CSU and UC, and can help address shortages in the supply of qualified workers in certain industries,"the study reported。

The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office also cited the UCLA report when asked for comment.

Additionally, Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, a UCLA professor of education and the report's lead author, said policymakers should seriously consider community college bachelor's degree programs as a tool when discussing degree attainment and workforce development.

"We are still not serving large numbers of low-income students of color who could benefit from a bachelor's degree," she said. "Economically, the state clearly needs to produce more of these degrees as well."

Critics argue that the state should instead direct resources toward promoting student transfer between community colleges and four-year systems. But research has shown this pathway to be fraught with problems.

Rios-Aguilar said credit loss during the transfer process means students typically spend far more than two years at their new school and often exhaust financial aid before completing their degrees. Community college students also tend to feel a sense of belonging at their home institutions and worry about not being accepted at larger four-year institutions, she added.

"For geographically constrained students, adult learners, and part-time students, this is a very promising way to serve them," she said.

One of the requirements for community college bachelor's degree programs is demonstrating a need for skilled workers in the field. Galizio said the Community College League of California is not just pushing for more degrees.

"We simply want a process that allows colleges to respond to workforce and student needs," he said.

Restricting Californians' access to affordable higher education opportunities would be a gift to what Galizio called predatory for-profit universities. He said out-of-state institutions could also benefit.

"People living in California would rather have California's public higher education institutions educate Californians than prevent our institutions from doing so," he said. "If institutions like Arizona State University or Southern New Hampshire University can come in and do what we should be doing? That's absurd."

Both Galizio and Evans expressed optimism that the college systems can resolve these tensions.

"This is an important topic, but I think we have to view it within the larger picture of California's higher education ecosystem," Evans said. "CSU and the community colleges have been strong partners for decades."

On that point, Galizio agreed, but he maintained that an indefinite pause on the program is not the solution.

"We should be able to resolve this, and we must, because people's economic and social mobility cannot wait," he said. "That's why we can't delay."