Florida Community Colleges Offer Bachelor's Degrees

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Feb. 12, 2009 -- Community college students don't necessarily have to leave their campuses to get a bachelor's degree anymore.

In Florida, and elsewhere across the country, more and more community college students are pursuing bachelor's degrees at their campuses. States are allowing the practice in hopes of meeting a workforce demand that overburdened public and private universities haven't been able to answer.

Starting in August, Santa Fe College, formerly known as Santa Fe Community College, will offer two bachelor's degrees: one in clinical laboratory science and another in health services administration.

Santa Fe College is not the first community college to make the move. Currently, 10 of Florida's 28 community colleges offer bachelor's degrees in subjects ranging from nursing and dental hygiene to banking and public safety management. Starting this year, Santa Fe, Polk Community College and Seminole Community College will increase that number to 13.

Tuition Savings

The expansion is part of a national trend. According to the American Association of Community Colleges, at the end of 2008, 95 community colleges in 11 states awarded bachelor's degrees. Average tuition hovered at $6,185 per year, about $400 less than annual in-state tuition at public universities.

Community colleges are an even bigger bargain compared to private universities, where average tuition this year is more than $25,000, according to the College Board.

"Offering these programs was about access," said Santa Fe president Jackson Sasser. "Students in Orlando and Jacksonville need to be able to access such programs and where would they go?"

Dr. Willis N. Holcombe, chancellor for the Florida Department of Education of Community Colleges, says the trend toward four-year degrees is really just an outgrowth of the community colleges' original mission.

"Our mission always has been to serve and reach the employment needs of the area, and in Florida, more and more jobs require a bachelor degree," he said.

The expansion of bachelor's degree programs will also boost Florida's status in state rankings by the number of residents with higher education degrees. The state currently ranks among the lowest in the country.

With the job market more competitive than ever, community colleges can adapt to the changing work force more readily and easily than most traditional four-year institutions, Holcombe said. They also tend to work around nontraditional students' schedules by offering more evening and weekend classes. Most students seeking these degrees are in their late 20s or 30s.

Skeptical Students

Many community college students, however, remain skeptical.

Adelsia Jones, who is working toward her associate's degree at Santa Fe, said she would rather transfer.

"I just don't think a community college looks as good on your resume for when you are trying to find a job," she said. That seemed to be the feeling among most students on campus.

Santa Fe had already received the approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools before seeking approval by the Florida College System last week to start offering the four-year degrees under a state law passed in 2001.

While most states have an independent process for schools to petition the right to offer such degrees, Florida has taken a more systematic approach, passing legislation that foresees everything from funding to implementation.

The application process these colleges endured wasn't simple. According to Sasser, it was lengthy and rigorous.

"It was over 100 pages," Sasser said. "We had to detail everything in it, faculty involved, physical space and also if those students would have jobs when they graduated."

No Trouble Finding Jobs

Santa Fe does not anticipate its students having any trouble at all finding jobs, as some health-care companies have already showed interest in their graduating classes.

"Mayo in Jacksonville has indicated that they would hire all the graduates for the first five years, but that won't happen, because we have Shands [at the University of Florida] Hospital here in Gainesville, and the VA Hospital," Sasser said. "A lot of these graduates are local, so they are going to want to stay local."

Sasser pointed out that graduates of the programs could earn an average of $38,000 in their respective entry-level positions.

Because of the unique nature of the degrees, they do not compete with local universities, Holcombe stressed.

"Universities are even willing to help," he said, noting that Santa Fe's health services administration program would be based at the Alachua Center for Biotechnology Studies, which is being built next to the University of Florida's Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator.

Despite the new degree offerings, the vast majority of community college students are still seeking an associate in arts degree, according to the Florida Department of Education. Statistics for the year 2007-2008 show that 260,141 students enrolled for an associate's degree while only 5,333 students sought their bachelor's at community colleges.

This is a trend Holcombe believes will change.

"Once schools' programs take off, we will be enrolling more students," he said. "The enrollment now is definitely smaller than we foresee in the future."