The Texas state legislature is considering expanding the number of community colleges that offer bachelor’s degrees in the state. Currently, three community colleges already offer a limited number of four-year degrees.
Senate Bill 2118, if enacted, would allow more institutions to offer four-year degrees in high-need areas, like nursing and early childhood development. So far, the bill has received great support in both the House and Senate, according to proponents of the measure.
“We believe that community colleges can deliver baccalaureate degrees at lower costs than universities can,” said Dr. Raymund A. Paredes, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). “I think that will certainly create a pathway that doesn’t currently exist for students to get baccalaureate degrees.”
In 2013, the Texas Legislature commissioned a report to study the viability of increasing baccalaureate programs at community colleges in the state. The report found that there is a need for more baccalaureate degrees in the state in certain sectors, such as healthcare and computer and information technology.
A coalition of 10 community colleges are ready to hit the ground running if and when the bill passes, according to Molly Beth Malcolm, vice president of community engagement and public affairs at Austin Community College (ACC). Her institution plans to offer a bridge program from RN to BSN degrees if SB 2118 passes.
“The way the bill is written, you can only offer these degrees where there’s a critical workforce need,” Malcolm said. “For central Texas, that critical workforce need is in the area of nursing. There’s already a shortage of nursing predicted and it just gets larger over the next decade.”
Despite pressing workforce needs, Malcolm anticipates that it would take at least two years before ACC could offer its students a BSN degree.
