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Quick Facts
Community College Baccalaureate degrees are a new policy approach to dealing with teacher shortages. In 1997, Arkansas’ Westark Community College became the first community college in the nation granted legislative permission to offer a baccalaureate degree on its campus.
The Community College Baccalaureate Association was established in 1999. The CCBA is headquartered in Ft. Myers, Florida and currently has about 80 members.
Many community college students would prefer to complete a baccalaureate degree on their community college campus if possible. In a recent survey of Edison Community College (FL) students, 80 percent of respondents said they would like to complete their baccalaureate degree at Edison. Their reasons included accessibility, convenient location, and lower costs.
Two-thirds of community colleges in the U.S. have considered offering bachelor’s degrees in some capacity, according to a recent study conducted by the Education Alliance, a higher-education consulting group.
Some community colleges are required to drop the “community” from their name. In order to gain regional accreditation, some community colleges who wish to offer BA’s must drop “community” from their names because certain accreditation agencies like SACS consider an institution a four-year college once it begins to offer an upper-division program
The programs can be costly. The start-up cost to offer four-year degrees at Miami-Dade Community College was $1.7 million; maintaining the program is expected to cost about $7,000 per full-time student.
While just a few state examples exist of bachelor-level teacher education programs at community colleges, more states have community colleges offering BAs in other subject areas. These include information technology management and business administration. States offering degrees in these areas include Georgia, Utah, and Vermont.
Sources and Links
Burkhart, Joyce (March 31, 2002). Benchmarking St. Petersburg College: A Report to Leadership, What are the Appropriate Models for St. Petersburg College and University Partnership Center to Expand Access to Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees? ERIC Document ED 469 503.
Cook, Amy (February 2000). Community College Baccalaureate Degrees: A Delivery Model for the Future? Education Commission of the States.
http://www.communitycollegepolicy.org/
Evelyn, J. (April 11, 2001). Making Waves in Miami. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 49, Issue 31, p. A34.
Floyd, Deborah L., and Walker, David A. (2003). Community College Teacher Education: A Typology, Challenging Issues, and State Views. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Vol. 27, pp. 643-663.
Lane, Kristina (May 22, 2003). Community Colleges’ New Foray. Black Issues in Higher Education, Vol. 20, Issue 7. pp. 30-34.
Lane, Kristina (April 14, 2003). 2+2=?. Community College Week, Vol. 15, Issue 18, pp. 6-8.
Mills, Kay (Winter 2003). Community College Baccalaureates: Some Critics Decry the Trend as Mission Creep. National Crosstalk, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 6-7; 10, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Walker, Kenneth P. (2000). The Case for the Community College Baccalaureate Degree.
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0602/ijse/walker.htm
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