Community colleges offer affordable 4-year degrees. Why are CSUs throwing a fit? | Opinion

It’s a classic David versus Goliath story: Feather River — a rural Northern California community college with an enrollment of around 1,500 — applied for permission to add a four-year degree program in fire management.

The California State University Chancellor’s Office fought back.

The reason?

It would duplicate programs already offered at CSU campuses, including Cal Poly SLO. And according to a 2021 state law that allow community colleges to offer a limited number of four-year degree programs, duplication is not allowed.

Never mind the fact that Cal Poly professors were among those who wrote letters of support for the Feather River program. Or that Feather River will emphasize fire management in the Sierra Nevada, the fire-prone area where the college is located. Or that a community college may be the only educational option open to students, especially in rural areas.

‘Shocked and disheartened’

Feather River’s request was eventually approved by the Community College Board of Governors, but CSU officials haven’t let the issue die.

“I was, quite frankly, shocked and disheartened when last month, the California community colleges acted unilaterally to approve the Feather River program,” CSU Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester said at a March meeting.

“We are considering all available steps in the matter,” she added.

That’s not all.

In April, two state lawmakers who chair education committees — Sen. Josh Newman and Assemblymember Mike Fong — sent a letter to community college officials, suggesting they “pause” reviewing applications for additional four-year degree programs.

“...when there are concerns about duplication, we expect that the final approved program will not duplicate a CSU or UC degree regardless of location,” they wrote.

Regardless of location?

Don’t they understand that not every student is in a position to pack up and move hundreds of miles away to attend college?

CSU threatened by ‘potential for lost revenue’

This wasn’t the first time members of the CSU system had pushed back on the idea of allowing community colleges to expand four-year programs.

The CSU Academic Senate anticipated conflict even before the Feather River feud became public.

It made this claim in a resolution adopted in January 2022: “... several new (California Community College) programs may be created that duplicate existing CSU programs leading to reduced enrollment in CSU programs, a reduction in revenue from student fees and potentially a reduction in State support. ...”

It called on the CSU Chancellor’s Office to report on the “potential for lost CSU revenue by virtue of newly created majors.”

How much does a 4-year degree cost at community college?

Community colleges do charge higher fees for upper-division courses — $130 per unit compared to $46 per unit for lower-division courses.

Still, over the course of four years, fees at community colleges total $10,560, which is less than half the cost of tuition and fees at the state’s colleges and universities.

That’s reason enough to expand offerings, especially in areas far removed from a CSU or UC campus. Yet CSU officials — and some lawmakers — seem intent on limiting students’ opportunities to earn a four-year degree.

Reaction to Feather River’s addition of a fire management program was especially heavy-handed.

Given the toll wildfires have taken on Californians, the CSU hierarchy should be embarrassed at such an attempt to block a new effort to educate future professional firefighters.

Northern California has been hit by a series of devastating wildfires, including the 2021 Dixie Fire that burned almost 1 million acres, making it the single largest fire in California history.

Training the next generation of professionals skilled in fire management is critical.

Offering a program at a community college — where many of the students may be locals who plan to stay in the area after they earn their degree — makes perfect sense.

Other community colleges get pushback from CSU

Unfortunately, Feather River isn’t the only community college that’s encountered resistance.

According to CalMatters, Rio Hondo, a community college in Whittier, is getting pushback over an electronic music program it would like to start. So is Los Angeles Mission College, which proposed adding a biomanufacturing major.

Clearly, CSU is out to protect its academic fiefdom by sending the community college system a clear message: Stay in your lane.

That’s especially galling given that CSUs and UCs are turning away qualified students due to a lack of space in their programs.

Yet they begrudge allowing community colleges the ability to offer an alternative — and much less expensive — path to a four-year degree?

If California’s college educators are truly interested in serving all prospective students — and if they aren’t, they are in the wrong profession — they will end this petty turf war and help, rather than hinder, community colleges looking to help underserved students.