Can Bachelor’s Degree Programs at Community Colleges Increase Access? A New Report Says Yes

Offering four-year degrees at community colleges isn’t a “silver bullet,” said co-author Ivy Love, policy analyst with New America’s Center on Education & Skills, but for community colleges and state lawmakers, it can be “one strategy among many to make the bachelor’s degree more accessible to students, especially students who may not pursue a bachelor’s degree otherwise without this opportunity.”

Bachelor’s degree programs at community colleges are less expensive and can attract students who might not otherwise consider a four-year degree. For example, the report highlights that Florida’s average community college baccalaureate student is 31 years old, compared to 22 years old for public universities.

Even though community college bachelor’s degree programs often serve different kinds of students, one of the major obstacles to establishing them can be resistance from public universities, the authors explained.

In some states, colleges are in “competition for a shrinking number of students,” said co-author Iris Palmer, New America’s senior advisor for higher education and workforce. So, four-year institutions can see four-year degrees as community colleges encroaching on their domain.

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