Texas is one of 17 states that authorizes bachelor’s degree programs for at least some community colleges. However, only three of the many Texas community colleges have such programs.

State officials have again taken an interest in the possibility of offering junior college four-year degrees statewide. Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3348 in June—effective immediately—which establishes a pilot program to test the feasibility of offering a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene at Tyler Junior College. The pilot program is scheduled to end in 2019 unless the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recommends continuing the degree program.

The bill is the first since 2003 to experiment with the idea of four-year community college degrees, but some higher education leaders say it is not enough.

Collin College President Neil Matkin said the community college district has advocated for bachelor’s degrees for years and wonders why the dental hygiene program is the only one that advanced through the Legislature this year.

Matkin said other fields, such as nursing, are in desperate need of greater access to more degree programs.

“[Collin County] is growing dramatically,” he said. “Our hospitals are all going for higher standards in terms of their certifications.”

Matkin said 80 percent of Collin County hospital nurses have a Bachelor of Science degree.

A report published by the THECB last year also suggests fields such as nursing and information technology could benefit from degree programs being offered at the junior college level.

THECB Commissioner Raymund Paredes said opposition from universities and fear of duplicating programs has kept the Legislature from fully implementing four-year degrees at community colleges.

“And I think a lot of people just have trouble imagining that community colleges could offer high-quality baccalaureate degrees,” he said.

One consensus found among proponents and opponents of a community college baccalaureate degree is the need to provide skilled workers in high-demand fields in Texas, according to the report.

Current options

Collin College has worked to provide more degree options for its students, Matkin said.

Collin College partners with several universities to offer guaranteed university admission to students who begin taking courses at the community college and meet certain transfer requirements.

In 2010 Collin College also opened the Collin Higher Education Center. The facility allows students to take junior-, senior- and graduate-level courses from partner universities.

“We wanted to help meet the local needs here in Collin [County],” Matkin said. “We don’t have a university here.”

Three other Texas community colleges—Brazosport College, Midland College and South Texas College—offer several baccalaureate degree programs. The offerings were initially part of a pilot program to study the feasibility of four-year degrees at community colleges. After the pilot program concluded, the state legislature allowed the three colleges to continue offering the degrees. The decision did not give blanket authorization to other colleges across the state.

“It’s been good for the students, good for employers and great for our community,” Brazosport College President Millicent Valek said. “It’s a very affordable way for a student to get a baccalaureate degree.”

Potential benefits

Paredes said one of the main benefits of community colleges offering bachelor’s degrees is removing the financial and physical barriers for some students.

“A university education is beyond the means of a number of students in Texas who would like to get baccalaureate degrees,” he said.

For instance, Brazosport College is about an hour from Houston, the closest major metropolitan area to the college. Because the college offers a bachelor’s degree in applied technology, some students do not have to commute to Houston, and local employers can hire graduates who live in the area, Valek said.

Valek said Lake Jackson, the city in which Brazosport College is located, has benefited from the degree programs because the college has provided graduates with technical skills.

“We’ve had over 100 graduates,” she said. “They are employed, and they’ve also been able to maintain their jobs while they pursue higher [education] and get that next step up on their career.”

Community colleges also offer lower tuition rates than universities, making a bachelor’s degree at a college more affordable, Matkin said.

Additionally, colleges can use existing facilities to offer baccalaureate degrees instead of having to build a new institution to offer more degree programs, he said.

“Is the state better served building a new university… or is it better served taking advantage of state-of-the-art facilities paid for with local dollars, not state dollars?” Matkin said.

Proportionally, community colleges receive less state funding than universities. But community colleges receive a fair portion—about 25 percent­—of their funding from local taxes whereas universities don’t.

Potential downsides

The report by the THECB states that although community colleges generally have lower tuition, introducing four-year degree programs could result in rising costs.

Each of the three Texas community colleges in the pilot program received $1.2 million in special funding to help cover startup costs. The colleges have also paid for operating costs through tuition revenue and state reimbursement.

Out of the three colleges that offer four-year degree programs, Brazosport College’s tuition has risen the most— 65 percent—between 2009 and 2013, according to the THECB report. But Valek said Brazosport’s increased tuition has more to do with a lack of state appropriations than the cost of running the bachelor’s degree programs.

Matkin said the three community colleges have done an “incredible” job with the baccalaureate degrees thus far with fewer resources than are available in Collin County.

He said should they offer bachelor’s degrees, community colleges would not lose their mission of providing accessible higher education to their communities.

“We don’t want to be anything other than a community college,” Matkin said. “We embrace our mission. We love our mission. We’re not asking to be a full-fledged university. What we are asking to do is to fill unmet needs at a price point that our students can afford here in Collin County.”

Next steps

Matkin said until the next legislative session, he will continue reaching out to legislators to advocate for four-year degrees at Collin College and statewide.

Paredes said the THECB also plans to bring the effort up again in the next legislative session.

Valek said these degrees are an investment in Texas’ future workforce.

“I think it makes a lot of sense for the state of Texas,” she said. “There are many, many other states that are already doing this. It’s good to know that we’re at least considering being as innovative as some of those other states.”