The California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice W. Harris led a teleconference to further discuss the different pilot bachelor degrees available from community colleges and other information regarding community colleges across the state.
Twelve California community colleges—Bakersfield College among them—have been approved to offer bachelor’s degrees in different areas of specialty. Some of the majors include mortuary science, dental hygiene, airframe manufacturing technology and industrial automation. The colleges chosen to offer programs were selected from 34 applications. The programs must be running by the 2017-2018 academic year but can begin as early as fall of 2015.
“We’re very excited about this new wave of programs,” Harris said.
For students planning to transfer to a four-year school, Harris said that students who complete California State University requirements or Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum can plan on guaranteed admission to nine historically black colleges and universities across the country. Some of the schools include Bennett College, Dillard University and Wiley College. Certain majors may still require other pre-requisites, according to a California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office press release.
Harris also discussed changes being made to Board of Governors fee waiver approvals. The changes will go into effect in Fall of 2016. Students must sustain a GPA of 2.0 or higher, and complete at least half of their intended coursework. Students who do not meet these guidelines lose BOG waiver eligibility but are able to have their waivers reinstated if they follow the guidelines in the future. 45 percent of students enrolled in California community colleges rely on BOG fee waivers. According to Harris, there has been a statewide decline in enrollment at community colleges and schools are facing limited resources.
“It’s been a tough several years for all of you as students,” Harris said.
To learn more about BOG fee waiver changes, bachelor’s degrees available at community colleges and transfer requirements for certain historically black colleges, visit californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu