From associate to B.A.: More people can finish a four-year degree at community colleges
In The News Piece in The Hechinger Report
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Nov. 29, 2021
Ivy Love is cited by The Hechinger Report regarding their recent report on community college baccalaureate programs.
New research from the think tank New America shows that 24 states have approved at least some community colleges’ plans to launch bachelor’s degree programs; at least seven have been approved in the past five years.
State legislators have established different bounds these programs can operate within, but New America found that many of them are designed to meet the needs of the local workforce and avoid duplicating programs offered at nearby state colleges. The most common degrees being granted are in business, the health professions and education, and most are bachelor’s of applied science degrees, rather than bachelor’s of arts or sciences, which are more commonly offered at four-year colleges.
Ivy Love, a senior policy analyst at New America, said that while it may be easy to wonder if these programs needlessly duplicate the offerings of colleges and universities, the answer is no. They are serving different students in different ways, she said.
Read the full article here.