Online community college to arrive in 2019

With last week’s release of his final budget as Governor of California, Jerry Brown has designated $120 million to create a fully online community college by fall of 2019.

The college will develop short-term credential programs aimed at serving the approximately 2.5 million adults in California with some or no college experience who do not have time to enroll in a traditional community college.

California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley has expressed his full support for the college, which will be tailored to provide working learners with skills and credentials they need to move ahead in today’s economy.

“California community colleges are serving 2.1 million students each year, but we are still not meeting the needs of 2.5 million others who for a variety of reasons cannot attend classes on our campuses,” said Oakley. “It’s our responsibility to bring the campus to them, and we can do that through a fully online college.”

The new online college will not compete for students already being served by community colleges because working learners typically do not access traditional college programs, and will focus predominantly on subassociate degree credentials tailored to the needs of working learners.

Oakley and Board of Governors President Cecilia V. Estolano said a broad coalition made up of representatives of organized labor, employer groups, education leaders as well as public policy and social justice organizations already back the proposal to reach socalled stranded workers who cannot access traditional community college programs.

The online college will work with communitybased organizations to identify and market the college to adults that are not currently accessing higher education.

Estolano noted that the governor’s proposal also aligns with the California Community Colleges’ recently adopted Vision for Success and its goal of better serving working adults looking for nontraditional approaches to boosting their job skills.

“While California’s 114 community colleges offer the most economical options for higher education and career training in the country, many working adults are looking for more online opportunities that fit into their schedule,” she said.

In May of last year, Brown urged Oakley to “take whatever steps are necessary” to establish a new community college that exclusively offers fully online programs.

Four options were presented to the governor in November, and the proposed state budget includes funding to move forward with design and development of a college under a new college district operated by the state chancellor’s office.

A wide spectrum of California leaders have expressed their support of the college.

“California must expand access to college to improve the lives of its residents and meet the challenges of the future economy,” Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. “The California Community Colleges recognizes the importance of this goal in its proposal to serve students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. In a state known for innovation and worldclass higher education, the community college system is ideally situated to pioneer and rigorously evaluate this concept of online education.”

“Online education with high-touch support is the only way to educate the 500,000 healthcare workers needed in the next 10 years,” said Rebecca Miller, workforce director for SEIU United Health Care Workers. “The future of care delivery demands that providers be digitally fluent and adapt quickly to new technologies. Online education is long overdue for working adults.”

“As the largest system of higher education in the nation, the California Community Colleges is a significant source for higher education and training that is seeding jobs across the state,” said Linda

Bidrossian, senior vice president of the Bay Area Council. “However, not all Californians can physically get to a campus or wait until a traditional semester starts. A fully online community college will enable students and workers to develop or upkeep their skills and ensure educators are positioned to meet learners’ needs.”