Millions of California’s working adults who have a high school diploma and some or no post-secondary education will have a fresh opportunity to enhance their marketability by enrolling in the state’s newest and fully online community college.
Proposed by Governor Jerry Brown and established this June, the California Online Community College seeks to boost social mobility by offering on-demand access to education and workforce training for California’s 2.5 million “stranded” adults aged 25 and older. The college will use a competency-based education model and plans to begin enrolling students in Fall 2019 for short-term credentials in three initial pathway areas – medical coding, information technology and supervisor roles, according to California Community Colleges officials.
“A credential from a California Community College is the path to a better life for millions of Californians,” said California Community Colleges System chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley in a statement. “The 115th online college will help increase social mobility for California’s working adults seeking better wages within a rapidly changing economy.”
Key components of the new online college include flexible start times for adult learners that are not tied to the academic calendar, low-cost tuition that includes fee waivers for eligible students and wraparound student support services and partnerships with employers, labor organizations, community-based organizations, existing community colleges and libraries to ensure students’ skills competencies and credential completion.
Oakley is serving as the college’s interim CEO for the time being, and the systems’ Board of Governors will operate in a separate capacity, overseeing the college as its Board of Trustees.
The college will be funded over a period of seven years, ultimately costing $240 million. Part of that funding – $20 million annually – will be used for ongoing spending at the college.
Ensuring that students persist and succeed will have to include financial investment in the online model and supplemental support services, said Dr. Elisabeth A. Barnett, senior research scientist at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College.
