Community College BA degrees no bargain

For the North County Times | January 29, 2010

San Diego's 78thDistrict Assemblyman Marty Block claims more students would complete bachelor's degrees if two-year colleges became four-year colleges.

He's drafting legislation to allow California's community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees. In a recent interview, Block said he'd like to see money shifted out of the California State University system to community colleges to produce a "bigger bang for the taxpayer's buck" in higher education.

The problem Block wants to solve is that four-year degrees are becoming less accessible because of budget cuts forcing California's public universities to turn away thousands of students and raise fees on the students lucky enough to get in. A retired San Diego State University professor, Block sees a simple solution. Community colleges are more affordable, conveniently located and have an open-door admissions policy.

Seventeen states are already offering bachelor's degrees in their community colleges. But would it work here?

California community college full-time faculty salaries are, on average, higher than those in the California State University system. Three out of four community college instructors are lower-paid part-timers who teach classes at several colleges within driving range.

In 2008, the average salary of full-time faculty in California's community colleges was $85,000. MiraCosta College faculty, with an average salary of $116,000, were paid more than any other community college instructors in the state, while the average pay at Palomar College was $92,000. By contrast, the average salary of CSU tenure-track faculty was $78,000. Less than half of CSU instructors are part-timers.

In Washington State, where community colleges have begun offering bachelor's degrees, community college instructors earned an average salary of $51,000 in 2006, while their counterparts at four-year public colleges earned an average of $82,000. There's logic behind the argument that it would cost less to have students remain at a Washington community college for four years.

It will be interesting to see how Assemblyman Block can make the case that taxpayers will get a bigger bang for the buck if the higher-priced work force of California's community colleges is expanded. Unless, of course, the lower-paid part-timers are hired to teach upper division classes in the major, which would raise questions about the quality of the program.

Full disclosure: My 30-year career as a university administrator included eight years in Indiana, where the only community college at the time was improbably named Vincennes University. Both two and four-year degree programs were offered at the state's 14 public university campuses.

Not surprisingly, the state had one of the lowest college participation rates in the nation and one of the highest costs per student in public funding for higher education.

RICHARD J. RIEHL writes from Carlsbad. Contact him at RiehlWorld2@yahoo.com