Two Sides to See of SB-850

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REBECCA ZENG
Staff Writer

A new bill is on its way! In an historic first for public higher education in
the state, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation on Sept. 28 that allows California
community colleges to award bachelor’s degrees in fields not currently
served by the California State University or University of California.

While this bill has a chance to lessen the gap between skill levels in
California, it could also widen the gap by not providing the same education
required for a bachelor’s degree compared to universities. According
to Dr. Ken Nuger on Spartan Daily, this eight-year change is unpleasant,
due to its potentially lowered quality of education to gain a bachelor’s
degree for a better price at community colleges since it will be cheaper
to earn a bachelor’s degree at a community college than in a university.

The Chancellor’s Office for California Community Colleges wrote
a letter of support for the bill to Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa
Barbara, who chairs the higher education committee, saying SB-
850 “does not seek to change the mission of the community colleges
in the Master Plan for Higher Education. It only seeks to help the
state of California address unmet workforce needs in fields where entry
requirements have progressed beyond the associate degree level.”