Another Reminder of the Lack of a Functioning Master Plan

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

As blog readers will know, from time to time we point out the need for a process to be set up to establish a new Master Plan for Higher Education. The old one - which folks still site - was written in 1960 - sixty-three years ago. Moreover, it expired in 1975. 

Absent a rewrite, we are back to the old scramble of the 1950s in which CSU wants to do what UC does and the community colleges want to do what CSU does.

Here's the latest reminder - from CalMatters - of the policy vacuum, which has invited ad hoc legislative interventions:

For over a year, the California Community College and the California State University systems have clashed over their respective roles. The focus of the dispute: Who should be granting bachelor’s degrees? The Cal State Chancellor’s Office says many community colleges are stepping outside their bounds by proposing bachelor’s programs that duplicate what Cal State campuses already offer. Community colleges disagree.

The issue goes to the core missions of these higher education systems and the boundaries that the state set for them back in 1960. That’s when California’s Master Plan for Higher Education laid out the roles for each system. For the state’s community colleges, the plan says they were designed to award two-year associate degrees and provide career training, while the Cal State system would offer four-year bachelor’s and master’s degrees and the University of California system would prioritize research and doctoral programs. Now a new law allows the community college system to approve up to 30 new bachelor’s degree programs each year at any one of the state’s 116 community colleges. The law, which went into effect last year, has a caveat: Community colleges can only offer bachelor’s degrees in unique fields that no other public four-year campus currently offers. It’s this caveat that is at the root of recent conflicts.

“I understand that CSUs (Cal State University campuses) and UCs may be feeling like community colleges are getting a larger allocation or are stepping into their lane,” said Laura Cantú, vice president of academic affairs for Los Angeles Mission College. “But there’s a reason why California decided that we should allow community colleges to offer some of the baccalaureates (bachelor’s degrees). It’s a way for us to really provide an onramp, a mechanism, for social mobility.” 

“I understand that CSUs and UCs may be feeling like community colleges are getting a larger allocation or are stepping into their lane.”

In an email to CalMatters, Cal State spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said there are opportunities for partnership when duplication concerns arise. Some strategies are already in place, like guaranteed admission to Cal State campuses for community college students and joint degree programs where students attend a community college and a Cal State at the same time, often virtually. 

Meanwhile, the Cal State University Chancellor’s Office has thrown its support behind a proposed law authored by Sacramento Democrat Kevin McCarty. While the Cal State system offers a few Ph.D. programs, the bill would grant it the right to approve many more, as long as the programs “do not duplicate University of California doctoral degrees.” As the bill winds through the statehouse, the UC system has asked for amendments to prevent Cal State campuses from duplicating what it already offers...  

Full story at https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2023/08/bachelors-degrees/.