Conclusion

Next year, 2021, will mark the 20th anniversary of the landmark Florida legislation that first authorized community colleges to offer bachelor’s degree programs. As of this writing, 27 of 28 institutions in the Florida College System (FCS) offer at least one baccalaureate program, with a total of 191 programs operating throughout the state.¹ While 23 states now authorize at least one community college to confer limited bachelor’s degrees, Florida operates community college baccalaureate programs at greater scale than any other state. In 2016–17, the middle year of data analyzed in this report, over 40,000 students were enrolled in FCS bachelor’s degree programs across the state,² eclipsing undergraduate enrollment at the flagship University of Florida.³

The FCS has done much to offer affordable access to bachelor’s degree programs for Floridians across the state. With a wide range of programs tailored to local labor markets, residents—whether recent associate degree recipients or out of college for decades—can access further education and training to open doors of opportunity. Baccalaureate graduates are overall experiencing wage gains as well as strong rates of employment or enrollment in further education.

However, these data suggest that labor market inequities such as a persistent gender pay gap and some disparities in employment and earnings by race and ethnicity in particular fields are a reality for these FCS baccalaureate graduates. Once again, we see that education and training alone cannot make the labor market equitable. We need to use the promise of these bachelor’s degree programs to expand access while creating a holistic, partnership-based approach to education and labor market equity that leverages the strengths of both colleges and employers. This type of structure could help ensure all people can access both the education they need and the equitable labor market outcomes they deserve.