Time for Establishing a Master Plan Process

UC President Clark Kerr hands
Master Plan to Gov. Pat Brown

From time to time, we have noted the gradual erosion of the Master Plan's division of labor between UC, CSU, and the community colleges. Recently, community colleges have been active in pushing to offer bachelor's degrees, a development that mainly impinges on CSU rather than UC. Below is an example from EdSource:

Hayden Lampe’s dream of getting a bachelor’s degree felt out of reach after she graduated with an associate degree at Feather River College in Quincy — that is, until the community college in rural Northern California won approval to offer a baccalaureate degree. The nearest university to Quincy is 80 miles away, so getting a degree would have meant moving. Lampe put her higher education plans on hold when she found out that rent near the universities she was considering in Reno, Colorado or Oregon was unaffordable. So when Feather River College announced it would be offering a bachelor of science program in her field — ecosystem restoration and applied fire management — she realized she didn’t have to give up on her dream or move from the community she loves.

“All of my enthusiasm I lost came back with a vengeance,” Lampe said. “The approval of this program allows me to stay in this community that I love and I have deep roots in.” Lampe was part of a panel of experts who discussed the promise of community college baccalaureates and the barriers to expanding these programs in California in a roundtable hosted by EdSource on July 19.

California has begun offering baccalaureate degrees at the community college as a way to make higher education more attainable for students while also helping the state meet its growing workforce demands. The state began piloting programs in 2014 before its expansion was permanently enshrined in state law by Assembly Bill 927 in 2021. Feather River College’s plan to offer a baccalaureate doesn’t just help students like Lampe who would have given up on finishing their degrees. It’s a boon to the rural community wrestling with the destruction of the 2021 Dixie Fire without enough qualified conservation workers...

Full story at https://edsource.org/2023/community-college-baccalaureate-degrees-are-key-to-expanding-college-access-panel-says/694380.

Of course, the old Master Plan of 1960 is fading from memory. But ad hoc legislative action may not be the best way of organizing California's higher ed resources. That's why we have called, from time to time, for the establishment of a process similar to what created the old Plan that would come up with a new one.