And things roll along without a Master Plan

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

As blog readers will know, yours truly periodically points to the need for a new Master Plan for Higher Education to allocate scarce resources and responsibilities among the three segments: UC, CSU, and the community colleges. Absent a Master Plan, however, things roll along on an ad hoc basis. Blog readers will also know that last week, proposals for various community colleges to offer (yet more) 4-year degrees were discussed. From EdSource:

California community college officials [last] Tuesday urged approval of proposed bachelor’s degree programs that have been blocked, in some cases for years, by California State University. The degrees were discussed at length during a meeting of the California Community Colleges system’s 17-member Board of Governors in Sacramento. State law allows community colleges to create bachelor’s degrees as long as the programs don’t duplicate what’s offered by the state’s four-year universities.

Fifty-four bachelor’s degrees are currently offered or will be soon at community colleges across the state. Most were approved in 2022 or later. Sixteen other proposed degrees that have been approved locally are still awaiting final sign-off from the state because of objections from CSU campuses. Many local community college leaders and students have grown frustrated by the delays. Seven of those degrees were initially proposed in 2023. No action was taken on Tuesday, but several board members said they support approving the degrees. That sentiment was echoed by many students, faculty and local college officials during a long public comment period...

Final decisions on the degrees are up to the president of the board of governors, who can approve them at the recommendation of the chancellor... Some campuses expect approvals as soon as this month... 

The blocked degrees include cybersecurity technology at Cerro Coso Community College, field ironworker supervision at Cerritos College, cybersecurity and network operations at Moorpark College, cloud computing at Santa Monica College, and building trades management at Foothill College, among others...

Full story at https://edsource.org/2026/community-college-officials-urge-approval-of-blocked-bachelors-degrees/748883.