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123rf.com
Education Dive
What happens when community colleges offer bachelor's degrees?
Natalie Schwartz
Oct. 1, 2020
Dive Brief:
People who earned a bachelor's degree at Florida community colleges
were making about $10,000 more annually than their peers who received
associate degrees in similar fields four quarters after graduating,
according to a new analysis from New America, a left-leaning think tank.
The share of bachelor's degree recipients who were Black, White,
Asian-American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander closely mirrored
that of Florida's population, though Latinx students were
underrepresented. They were also more likely to be older than their
peers at state universities.
The analysis sheds light on the labor market outcomes other states can
expect from allowing community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees.
Dive Insight:
More than 40,000 students were working on bachelor's degrees at
community colleges in Florida in the 2016-17 academic year, surpassing
undergraduate enrollment at the state's flagship, according to the
report. The state bills these programs as a way to address education
deserts and labor shortages.
Nearly two dozen other states also allow at least one of their
community colleges to award bachelor's degrees, though they are
typically more workforce-oriented than those offered at four-year
schools.
New America's analysis suggests bachelor's degrees from community
colleges can help graduates land jobs and earn higher wages, but it
also found disparities. Latinx graduates in health professions earned
at least $16,000 more annually than their Black and White peers, while
Black graduates in early childhood education outearned these two groups.
And in four out of five fields studied, men earned more than women at
the associate and bachelor's degree level. In health professions, men
with bachelor's degrees from community colleges made $63,144 annually,
compared to $45,896 for women. This data challenges the theory that
gender pay gaps would substantially shrink if women chose higher-paying
fields, the analysis notes.
Some university leaders have pushed back on these programs, saying they encroach on their territory.
Two-thirds of presidents at public and private four-year institutions
indicated in a 2019 survey from Inside Higher Ed that community
colleges shouldn't be allowed to offer bachelor's degrees.
And one recent study found that community colleges granting bachelor's
degrees can harm enrollment at nearby four-year schools, though mostly
at for-profit colleges.
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