Four Community College Districts in County Signal Desire to Offer Bachelor’s Degrees
Written by SD Metro Magazine
The San Diego Community College District is seeking to offer a pilot program to award bachelor’s degrees in Health Information Management. It is the second-largest community college district in California and one of four districts in San Diego County that want to offer bachelor’s degrees
Four community college districts in San Diego County have notified the state Chancellor’s Office that they want to host a pilot program to award bachelor’s degrees to students under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this fall.
The districts are San Diego CCD, Southwestern CCD, Mira Costa CCD and Grossmont-Cuyamaca CCD. They are among 36 districts — half of all districts in the state — that submitted letters of intent indicating their desire to host a baccalaureate degree program.
The legislation — Senate Bill 850 and authored by Sen. Marty Block (D-San Diego) — allows up to 15 districts to establish a pilot baccalaureate degree program at one of their colleges in a field of study not offered by the California State University or University of California. Lower-division coursework would cost $46 and upper-division coursework would cost $84 under the new program, with an estimated total cost of about $10,000 to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
San Diego Community College District wants to offer bachelor’s degrees in Health Information Management as part of the program. Southwestern wants to offer Allied Health degrees, Mira Costa, Biomanufacturing, and Grossmont-Cuyamaca, Environmental Health & Safety Management.
“The districts’ strong interest in building baccalaureate degree programs is heartening,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice W. Harris. “They are pioneering a new mission for the California Community Colleges and opening up pathways for Californians who may not have had the chance to earn a four-year degree.”
“Students now have another door that can lead to a quality, affordable four-year degree, said Block. “It tells employers that California is doing all it can to ensure that our state is open for business and will stay open to employers looking for highly trained employees.”
The thirty-six districts seek to build baccalaureate degree programs in a wide variety of diverse vocational fields, ranging from airframe manufacturing technology, biomanufacturing, respiratory therapy, dental hygiene, engineering technology, and public safety administration. Many of the proposed programs are in fields where graduates with associate degrees can already expect to earn $60,000 a few years after graduation, making them very cost-effective.
