When policymakers debate whether community colleges should offer bachelor’s degrees, the arguments often seem abstract: mission drift, duplication, threats to college enrollment.
Yet for students served by community colleges and industries struggling to fill critical roles, community college bachelor’s degrees are not an excessive measure. Most community college students aspire to a bachelor’s degree, but only a small fraction earn one.
This must change, because these schools provide a lifeline and a link to the job market that we need more than ever. Community college baccalaureate programs are often half the cost of public universities. This price difference matters. Working adults often can’t uproot their families, take on new housing costs, or quit their jobs to get a degree elsewhere.
HASmy establishmentWe recently sought approval for accreditation for a groundbreaking Bachelor of Applied Science in Primary Education. The design is elegantly simple: a partnership with a local school district desperate for teachers, a pathway for paraeducators and high school juniors and seniors, and paid employment all the way through the associate’s and bachelor’s degrees.
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Courses offered on-site are considered concurrent enrollment and their cost is covered by the state’s concurrent enrollment program. The remaining courses, which students take on campus, may be covered by Pell Grants for those who qualify – the majority of students at the institution are eligible. As a result, the overall cost of education is significantly reduced, making it more affordable for students. Graduates of this program will become teachers and enter classes already functioning like fifth grade teachers, with real experience and without debts or detours. It’s one of the clearest expressions of the mission of community colleges that I’ve ever seen, and the principle behind it is simple: let community colleges finish what they start.
Many community college students lose nearly half of their credits when they transfer — a costly and demoralizing delay that causes too many to quit. Community colleges already offer the first half of a bachelor’s degree. When the second half remains structurally out of reach, the promise becomes hollow. Community college baccalaureate programs can repair the pipeline by allowing students to complete the full degree where they started.
CCB students are disproportionately working parents, adult learners, homebound students, and people of color – the same students who choose community colleges for their proximity, affordability, and trust.
Data from emerging states show high completion rates and significant salary gains for graduates of applied bachelor’s degree programs, especially compared to their peers in comparable fields who earned an associate’s degree.
Related: Rural community colleges are uniquely positioned to tackle complex regional colleges
States are facing workforce shortages in education, nursing, information technology, advanced manufacturing, behavioral health and other critical areas. Community colleges can design applied baccalaureate programs that quickly respond to local workforce needs, often in direct partnership with employers.
More than 700 workforce-friendly bachelor’s degree programs are now available nationwide. These programs do not duplicate each other; they are targeted solutions designed where shortages are most acute.
Related: What one state learned after a decade of free community college
Colleges that have built strong community college baccalaureate programs share several design principles: They start with a clear workforce demand, engage employers as co-designers, establish bundled pathways with work-integrated learning, and keep the total program cost predictable. At my school, our BAS in primary education followed this manual. The district co-shaped the curriculum, students work in the classroom their first quarter, professors align lessons with real-world practice, and the entire journey avoids transfer friction.
The result is a sustainable, local pipeline of prepared teachers who enter the workforce debt-free.
MiraCosta College’s bachelor’s degree in biomanufacturing integrates industry-standard equipment and skills as well as paid internships, leading to exceptional job placement rates. Miami Dade College created a bachelor’s degree in applied artificial intelligence with direct input from employers who needed graduates proficient in the tools used in the field. These programs work not because they resemble college degrees, but because they remain intentionally different: applied, affordable, employer-aligned, and built around students whose lives don’t fit traditional transfer models.
Related: Student Voice: Colleges and universities need to do much more to support transfer students
Community college baccalaureate degrees undergo the same regional accreditation exam as university programs, and graduates sit for the same licensure exams where applicable. National frameworks now codify standards for program design, faculty qualifications, equity-focused student support, and continuous improvement. Evidence does not support fears about quality; he maintains the opposite.
Opponents often warn against duplication or competition with universities. But states that have authorized CCBs show a different pattern: These programs primarily recruit students that universities haven’t reached, increase the overall number of graduates in high-need fields, and strengthen local economies. When the question moves from “Who can issue the diploma?” to “Are students and employers getting what they need?” » the answer becomes clearer.
To responsibly grow high-quality community college baccalaureate degrees, every stakeholder has a role to play. Students need clear guidance, stable schedules, paid work opportunities, and frictionless pathways. Faculty should design curricula with employer input, adopt high-impact teaching practices, and lead continuous assessment cycles. Administratorsmust invest in comprehensive student support systems, transparent partnerships with universities, and hiring structures that reflect the applied and industry-aligned nature of these programs.
State leaders should authorize programs based on labor market need, capacity, and affordability, and they should ensure that approval processes are based on data rather than political considerations.
Employers should explain skills, offer work-based learning, and participate in curriculum review to keep programs relevant to industry needs.
When transfer pathways are confusing, under-resourced, or slow, we lose students and often those who can least afford the detour. Community college bachelor’s degrees eliminate this friction by allowing students to finish where they started: in supportive environments that reflect their realities. The impact is not just individual; it’s local and generational. Families are stabilizing. Regional industries are growing. Communities retain local talent.
This is not an argument against universities or against transfers. This is a call to expand opportunities by embracing both: strengthening transfer and allowing community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees where data shows a need. The question is not who grants the title. It’s the question of whether people can access the education that changes their lives.
Let community colleges finish what they started.
Kathryn Skulley is the Manager of Analytics and Institutional Excellence and Accreditation Liaison at Community College of Aurora.
Contact the opinion editor atopinion@hechingerreport.org.
This story about community college transfers was produced by The Hechinger reportan independent, nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Register with Hechingerweekly newsletter.
The article OPINION: Too Many Community College Students Never Finish What They Start, and That Needs to Change appeared first in the Hechinger Report.
