A pilot program allowing 15 California community colleges \u2013 including San Diego Mesa College \u2013 to offer bachelor\u2019s degrees in critical workforce areas has been extended through July 2026, thanks to legislation signed into law Sept. 20 by Gov. Jerry Brown.
\nHad the governor vetoed SB 1406, authored by Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), students participating in the California Baccalaureate Pilot Program would have to earn their diplomas by the end of the 2022-23 academic year. Instead, students can now begin their bachelor\u2019s degree program as late as the 2022-23 academic year.
\n“Four-year degrees at community colleges will help create the future workforce in our state,” Hill said. “These affordable and high-quality degrees available at community colleges are transforming people\u2019s lives, allowing them to get good-paying jobs close to home. This legislation and the pilot program\u2019s ongoing success would not be possible without the tireless work of Chancellor Constance Carroll who has championed this effort for several years.”
\nA similar bill seeking to extend the sunset provision was approved by the state Senate in 2017, but it was held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. This year, the Committee approved the successor bill unanimously.
\n“We at the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) and at college districts throughout California are truly grateful for Sen. Hill and Gov. Brown for this much needed legislation that will extend opportunities for students to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in critical workforce areas,” said SDCCD Chancellor Constance M. Carroll. “The pilot program embodies the California Community Colleges mission of advancing economic growth by providing excellent, affordable, local bachelor\u2019s programs that lead directly to jobs.”
\nChancellor Carroll played a key leadership role in supporting both the Baccalaureate Pilot Program and the effort to extend its sunset provision. The pilot program evolved through years of collaboration with business, industry, and labor. It was authorized through legislation by former state Senator Marty Block, who also once served as president of the San Diego Community College District\u2019s Board of Trustees.
\nSenator Block\u2019s bill was signed into law Sept. 28, 2014, and the first of 15 community colleges launched their baccalaureate programs the following year.
\nThe Baccalaureate Pilot Program gained support after the Public Policy Institute of California projected the state would face a shortage of 1.1 million workers with a bachelor\u2019s degree unless it ramps up college access and completion.\u00a0A Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office report released in December concluded the baccalaureate program is addressing the state\u2019s workforce needs, but concluded more data is needed for a comprehensive evaluation of its impact.
\nBaccalaureate programs can only be established at a California community college to meet regional workforce needs, and they cannot duplicate existing options at the state\u2019s public universities. The first cohort of students earning bachelor\u2019s degrees through the pilot program graduated this past spring in programs such as Health Information Management (at Mesa and Shasta colleges), Industrial Automation (Bakersfield College), Dental Hygiene (Foothill and West Los Angeles colleges), and Interaction Design (Santa Monica College).
\nCalifornia is one of 23 states allowing community colleges to offer baccalaureate degree programs. Students participating in the California program pay approximately $10,560 in fees and tuition for their four-year degree, a fraction of what they would pay at private and other public colleges and universities.
\nComo el segundo m\u00e1s grande de los 72 distritos de colegios comunitarios de California, el Distrito de Colegios Comunitarios de San Diego atiende a aproximadamente 100,000 estudiantes anualmente a trav\u00e9s de tres colegios de dos a\u00f1os y la Educaci\u00f3n Continua de San Diego. Las tres universidades, San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College y San Diego Miramar College, ofrecen t\u00edtulos de asociado y certificados en programas ocupacionales que preparan a los estudiantes para la transferencia a universidades de cuatro a\u00f1os y trabajos de nivel inicial. Mesa College tambi\u00e9n ofrece una licenciatura en Gesti\u00f3n de informaci\u00f3n de salud. Educaci\u00f3n Continua ofrece educaci\u00f3n para adultos sin cr\u00e9dito en siete campus a lo largo de San Diego.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A pilot program allowing 15 California community colleges \u2013 including San Diego Mesa College \u2013 to offer bachelor\u2019s degrees in critical workforce areas has been extended through July 2026, thanks to legislation signed into law Sept. 20 by Gov. Jerry Brown. Had the governor vetoed SB 1406, authored by Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), students […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":282029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Governor signs bill extending California\u2019s 4-year degree pilot program at community colleges through 2026","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12360,11551,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duplicate","category-news","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}