Community Colleges Offering Four Year Degrees

Yesterday, the New York Times posted an article entitled "Community Colleges Challenge Hierarchy With 4-Year Degrees" by Tamar Lewin. This article addresses the growing trend of Community Colleges upgrading their programs to offer 4-year Bachelor's Degrees. At the current time, most Community Colleges serve as an inexpensive option for completing core classes to obtain an Associate's Degree. Then, students seeking a Bachelor's Degree have to travel on to more expensive 4-year colleges and universities in order to complete their undergraduate studies. However, Miami Dade College and thirteen other Florida Community Colleges are seeking to change all that. Throughout the country, seventeen other states are implementing similar programs in which students can continue their studies at their Community College to obtain a Bachelor's Degree. While critics argue that this shift is unnecessary and will "drive up costs, take resources from needy students and lead to low-quality degrees," Miami Dade’s President, Eduardo J. Padrón, argues that they are providing affordable education to the community in fields that regular universities do not want to teach. Dr. Padrón states that "Ours is a mission of rescue. The universities that handpick their students based on SATs and grades get three times the funding we do. We are the underfunded overachiever."

I think that this shift is long overdue. In a society where a Bachelor's Degree has become a requirement for employment, (even in jobs where there is no clear need for such a degree) students need an affordable option to obtain a 4-year degree. During the current financial crisis, jobs are hard enough to come by for people with degrees, but for those without them finding employment is nearly impossible. If we are going to require a Bachelor's Degree in the same manner that my parents' generation required a high school diploma, then we must make that option accessible to all citizens, not only those who can afford the ever increasing tuition at four year colleges and universities. As I recall the Community College for my area, Bergen Community College, allows the top ten percent of graduating high school seniors at each school in Bergen County to attend the college free of charge. This makes education an option for people who it otherwise would not be. Beyond that, tuition is substantially lower than that of Ramapo College, the College I currently attend. At Bergen Community College, a course cannot exceed $420.00 in cost to the student. At Ramapo, it costs $336.40 per credit for in-state students (the cheapest rate). That means, for one four credit course at Ramapo (they are all four credit courses) it costs the student $1,345.60. That is almost a thousand dollar difference per class.

Another reason that I feel so strongly about this initiative is that the increased demand for employees with degrees has forced young adults to attend colleges or universities more than ever before. However, most of us are not fortunate enough to have the kind of money lying around to simply pay all these expenses up front. Instead, we have mortgaged our souls to Freddie and Sallie and the like, and will be paying them back for a decade (if not more) after we graduate. With an entire generation starting their lives this far in debt, it is no wonder that our economy can no longer sustain itself. I know many friends of mine have already accumulated close to $100,000.00 in student loans, and that is just for undergraduate studies. Starting out "adult" life that far under water is not good for anyone, but especially for people seeking the type of degrees that these Community Colleges are offering 4 year programs in, who most likely will not seek Post Graduate education and will take a lower paying job because of it. The New York Times article states that: "Mike Boulus, the executive director of the group that represents the four-year universities, called the plan to expand community colleges 'a solution in search of a problem." I could not disagree with Mr. Boulus more. There is a problem, regardless of how much it is ignored, and this solution will benefit students nationwide who have hit a brick wall after two years at Community College.