California Should Protect Student Access, Not Institutional Turf [Opinion]

The California State University’s recent announcement that it intends to expand bachelor’s degree offerings into more traditional workforce disciplines should be welcomed. California desperately needs more bachelor’s degree graduates in nursing, healthcare, technology, education, public safety, and other high demand professions.

But that announcement also exposes a contradiction in California’s higher education policy.

If our state agrees we need more workforce bachelor’s degrees, why are we making it more difficult for community colleges to offer them?

That question becomes even more important as the Legislature considers Assembly Bill 2301, which would create a limited pilot allowing selected rural and underserved community colleges to offer Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees, and Assembly Bill 2694, which would modernize California’s outdated duplication review process. Together, these measures recognize that California’s workforce challenges require more educational capacity, not more institutional barriers.

Let me be clear.

This is not an argument against the California State University (CSU).

California needs a strong California State University, a world class University of California (UC), and an innovative California Community Colleges system. Each plays a distinct and indispensable role under California’s Master Plan for Higher Education.

This is a case for ensuring that every public higher education system is empowered to do what it does best in service of California’s students.

When the Legislature authorized community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees through the original pilot program and later expanded that authority statewide, lawmakers had a clear purpose in mind.

The goal was not to create competition between higher education systems. The goal was to expand opportunity where opportunity did not exist.

The Legislature recognized that community colleges are uniquely positioned to respond quickly to regional workforce needs. They work directly with local employers. They educate place bound students who cannot relocate to another city to earn a bachelor’s degree. They serve working adults, veterans, first generation college students, and families seeking an affordable pathway to economic mobility.

The authority to offer bachelor’s degrees included an important safeguard. Community college programs would undergo a duplication review to ensure they did not unnecessarily duplicate existing CSU or UC programs. That safeguard was intended to encourage coordination. It was never intended to discourage innovation.

Nor was it intended to create a process where a community college identifies a workforce need, spends years developing a proposal, completes labor market analysis, partners with employers, and enters the statutory review process, only to have another public system later decide to move into the very same academic space.

California should never allow one public institution to say, “You can’t offer this degree,” only to later decide, “We’ll offer it ourselves.” If that becomes the accepted practice, the duplication process is no longer protecting the public interest. It is protecting institutional interests. That is not what the Legislature envisioned when it created community college bachelor’s degrees.

The intent was to produce more graduates in high demand fields. The intent was to expand access. The intent was to strengthen California’s workforce. Those principles remain just as important today.

That is why AB 2301 deserves thoughtful consideration.

California faces a critical nursing shortage that affects every community, especially rural and underserved regions. Allowing a limited number of community colleges with proven nursing programs to offer Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees is not about replacing CSU programs. It is about increasing the number of qualified nurses caring for Californians.

AB 2694 addresses another challenge.

California’s current duplication process was developed for a different era. Today’s workforce needs are regional. Student access matters. A bachelor’s degree located hundreds of miles away may technically exist, but for a working parent, a first-generation student, or someone caring for family members, it may be functionally unavailable.

Availability is not the same as accessibility.

Here in the Coachella Valley, we understand this reality. Healthcare providers need more nurses. Employers need more professionals with bachelor’s level education. Our growing economy depends upon preparing students for careers that allow them to remain in the communities they call home. Community colleges have repeatedly demonstrated that they can deliver high quality bachelor’s degree programs that are affordable, responsive, and closely aligned with regional workforce demands.

The question should never be whether CSU or the community colleges educate these students. The question should be whether California is producing enough graduates to meet the needs of our state.

If the answer is no, then our public higher education systems should be working together to remove barriers instead of creating new ones.

The duplication process was created to prevent wasteful duplication of programs, not to duplicate ideas. We should protect student access, not the systems that maintain it.

Innovation should be encouraged.

Collaboration should be rewarded.

Students should come first.

California’s Master Plan for Higher Education has endured for more than six decades because it has adapted to the changing needs of our state while remaining faithful to its central promise that every Californian deserves access to higher education.

That promise is tested by today’s workforce shortages. It will not be fulfilled by protecting institutional boundaries. It will be fulfilled by expanding opportunity. If we truly put students first, then every public higher education system should be encouraged to do what it does best.

California’s future depends not on which institution awards the degree. It depends on whether the student has the opportunity to earn it.