Literature Review
Community colleges have offered baccalaureates degrees since the 1970’s in areas where the demand for higher education has outpaced the supply. Students benefit from completing their baccalaureate degrees from a community college because their tuition is lower compared to universities. In addition, they may be geographically located closer to their place of employment or residence compared to universities, offering them access to a higher education. In this report we research literature related to community colleges offering the baccalaureate degree.
Baccalaureate Degrees in Other States
In Wisconsin, community colleges attempted to accommodate students that lived in rural areas by offering them the opportunity to earn
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The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation composed of 72 districts and 112 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year. Community colleges supply workforce training, basic skills education and prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions, this has been the primary goal for so many years. In addition to offering associates degrees to students that complete the necessary course curriculum, community colleges work in conjunction with universities to offer students that transfer from a college to university a bachelor’s degree (Floyd, 2006). According to Floyd (2006) “colleges have [had] a rich history of providing access to the baccalaureate degree through various means and models while limiting their own highest award to the associate degree” (pg. 59). The various types of relationships include the colocation, enterprise, integrated, virtual, sponsorship, hybrid, and embedded baccalaureate …show more content…
One reason that has been a source of major concern for many years, which is the increasing level of debt that students are being left with after completion of a four year degree. Community colleges are an affordable alternative for many socioeconomically underprivileged students who want to earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, which leads us to our next reason. Low income and under-represented minority students are transferring or obtaining degrees at low rates, there are many inequities in educational attainment that still exist. Another reason that has concerned our politicians is the lack of Bachelor’s degrees that are being granted nationwide, we are lagging behind other countries in this area. There is a huge need for our nation’s workforce to have people ready to assume jobs that the “Baby Boomer” generation will be leaving in large numbers, which is another concern. The California State Universities and the University of California school systems are not providing enough graduates to meet the nation’s needs. Generally low rates of community college student transfer to baccalaureate programs and institutions, coupled with strong expected labor market demand and returns for education at the bachelor’s degree level or higher (Carnevale et al. 2011) necessitate strengthening of systems of support for upward transfer for community college