Plan widens access to bachelor’s degrees
More community colleges would be allowed to offer programs
More Texas community colleges could soon offer what was once beyond the reach of the two-year schools: a bachelor’s degree.
Legislation introduced by Sen. Kel Seliger, an Amarillo Republican, would authorize community colleges that meet certain benchmarks to offer bachelor’s degree programs in applied technology, applied science and nursing.
Senate Bill 2118 needs full House approval and Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature to become law, and so far, the bill has cleared every vote with wide margins.
“It’s widely supported across the state, and I think its chances are very, very good,” Seliger said.
State politicians first allowed three community colleges — including Brazosport College in Brazoria County — to offer bachelor’s degrees in 2003.
The expansion would
mark an important step for community colleges, which enrolled about 715,000 students in Texas last fall. In a recovering economy, politicians have cheered community colleges as responsive to changing workforce needs and offering an important alternative to growing tuition costs at four-year universities. The praise is a far cry from the perception of community colleges as being a last resort for low-achieving students.
Four years ago, Texas lawmakers asked the state’s higher education coordinating board to study whether more community colleges should offer bachelor’s degrees. That group recommended that the Legislature gradually expand these academic programs across the state in a way that does not duplicate existing offerings.
Supporters of Seliger’s bill say it would help Texas nurses receive bachelor’s degrees, a credential that trade associations say improves care. Community college students would be more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree — essential for upward mobility to management roles — if they do not have to transfer to another institution, advocates say.
But critics have worried about bachelor’s offerings overlapping with fouryear universities, which could take away students and faculty from existing programs that receive state money. The Texas study four years ago warned of this potential, as did the Texas Nursing Association before the legislative session began.
Addressing ‘a gap’
“Until Texas has definitive data on the realistic ability of Texas community colleges to take on the financial and administrative burden that would come with four-year baccalaureate programs, the Legislature should focus its resources on developing and championing the current proven pipeline between community colleges and universities,” the association wrote.
The first American community colleges began at the turn of the 20th century as “junior colleges,” bridges between high school and university programs. They evolved over time to accommodate calls for technical education and skills training, and in the Great Recession, Americans nationwide went back to school for a new certificate or associate’s degree to be more attractive job candidates.
More than 20 states now allow some community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees with five new states enacting some sort of policy in the last decade.
Thomas Bailey, director of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University, said these offerings have helped chip away at two important problems in higher education.
First, students often choose community colleges because they cannot move far from home. They would be unlikely to transfer credits to a four year-university hours away, he said. Second, community colleges would offer applied bachelor’s degrees, unlike many four-year universities.
“I don’t think they have abandoned their community college mission,” Bailey said. “They’ve added to it these services that they can provide their students.”
Lone Star College, whose campuses are largely north and west of Beltway 8, would want to offer bachelor’s degrees in applied technology and nursing if the legislation passes.
An ideal applied technology student would work in welding, process technology, oil and gas, cybersecurity or retail and want to ascend to a management role, Lone Star government relations vice chancellor Amos McDonald said. There aren’t nearby bachelor’s in applied technology programs for easy transfer, he said.
“We’re not talking about English degrees or history or chemistry degrees,” he said. “We’re talking about truly where there’s a gap.”
Several other community colleges spoke in favor of the bill at a recent higher education committee hearing, praising its potential to elevate nursing programs in Texas as the state faces a shortage.
A division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said in 2010 that 80 percent of registered nurses should hold a bachelor’s degree by 2020. In 2014, about half of Texas’ registered nurses had the credential, according to a report prepared for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by the RAND Corp.
“We see this as helping meet the workforce needs of our community,” said Brenda Hellyer, San Jacinto College chancellor, at a recent legislative committee hearing.
HCC not participating
Houston Community College, however, would not expand offerings if the legislation passed, Chancellor Cesar Maldonado said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle’s editorial board. Instead, it would focus on improving completion rates and attracting more people to its programs.
Like other community colleges, HCC has existing partnerships with area universities for co-enrollment and transfer programs. In one program, participating HCC students who meet curricular and GPA benchmarks are automatically admitted into the University of Texas at Tyler after they earn their associate’s degree. Then, they take UTTyler courses in the HCC facility to earn a bachelor’s of science in engineering.
HCC can use its money more effectively if it educates more students and then help them transfer to existing local programs, he said.
“I’ve got an investment in facilities and talent, human talent,” Maldonado said. “Why would I want to add a program … when I could have my students go across the street?”
Brazosport College, one of the three colleges permitted to give bachelor’s degrees, says that it’s awarded more than 220 bachelor’s degrees during the last 15 years. Graduates earn mean annual wages of $73,470, more than $30,000 higher than the state average for bachelor’s degree recipients, the university says.
Ammar Habib, 23, graduated with his bachelor’s in applied technology in 2015 from Brazosport, specializing in business management.
When he initially enrolled for his associate’s, he expected to transfer to the University of Houston after two years. But staying close to home made sense logistically and financially, he said, adding that he paid about $12,000 in tuition over four years.
“Some of my extended family was a little confused, but once I explained it to them, it made sense,” said Habib, who now works at the college as a tutor and is a published author. “The costs were a big reason people were very supportive.”