Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation last week allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees in career and technical fields.
Twenty-one other states offer similar degrees.
“This is an important piece of legislation for students and our state,” said Dr. Nancy McCallin, president of the Colorado Community College System. “We are filling a gap in Colorado’s higher education system.”
The legislation authorizes four-year bachelor’s degrees in applied science, which cover dental hygiene, culinary arts and water quality management.
Norm Jones, dean of Southwest Colorado Community College, said fields with the most need would first have to be identified before the Mancos campus would offer the degrees. He said it was unlikely the program would start this fall.
“We celebrate the opportunity, but we need to strategically identify which fields would benefit most,” he said.
Jones said SCCC officials would initiate conversations with business and community leaders across Region 9’s five-county area to identify specific needs. He said four-year degrees would lead to higher-paying jobs, which could help drive the area’s economy.
McCallin said the new degrees would allow more students to stay in their communities. That ability is critical in rural communities where it is difficult for students to leave to pursue an education, she said.
Jones said specialized technical jobs require a bachelor’s for advancement.
A survey of 1,300 community college students showed 84 percent wanted the colleges to offer the degrees. And 94 percent of businesses indicated a need for workers with skills learned through a bachelor’s program.
The community college system is the state’s largest system of higher education, serving more than 159,000 students annually. It oversees career and academic programs in 13 community colleges and career and technical programs in more than 160 school districts.
