Ohio, following Gov. John Kasich’s signing of the budget last week, is now the 24th state to allow its community colleges to offer four-year degrees. States across the nation have approved varying plans to allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in specific industry areas, in an effort to fill workforce needs and provide an affordable path to a baccalaureate for state residents.
The state has a set a goal of 65 percent degree or certificate completion among adults between the ages of 24 and 65 by 2025. Currently, approximately 43 percent of adults in Ohio have some form of postsecondary education. The move to expand four-year degree options is part of a larger initiative directed by Kasich to help more Ohio residents obtain a degree or credential with less debt.
Clark State Community College, a two-year school located in Springfield, Ohio, is drafting a proposal to offer a four-year degree in manufacturing technology management.
“This is a real opportunity for students and the state,” Clark State president Dr. Jo Alice Blondin said.
Countering conventional wisdom that holds that manufacturing jobs are on the way out in the US, outsourced to workers in India, China and beyond, Blondin said that manufacturing remains an integral part of the economy of the surrounding region. The nature of available manufacturing jobs is changing to become more technical, she conceded, but that only makes prospective programs like the manufacturing technology management degree all the more relevant for the future.
“We have a history in this area of manufacturing and it hasn’t gone away,” Blondin said. “The global narrative is that manufacturing is leaving the United States, that manufacturing is no longer a viable career.”
Clark State’s business partners are beginning to see mid-level managers retire, leaving space for others to take their place, Blondin said, and in terms of advanced manufacturing degrees, Clark State is already ideally positioned to help more workers advance in the careers due to a $2.5 million TAAACCCT grant the college received from the Department of Labor in 2014.
