UC gets into the act

UC President Clark Kerr hand the
Master Plan to Gov. Pat Brown

We have been posting about the need for a new Master Plan for Higher Education and citing the continued push by community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees.

As might be expected, most of the opposition to that push has come from CSU. But now UC has gotten into the act. From the Daily Cal:

The University of California released a letter opposing Assembly Bill 664, which would allow a California community college to offer additional bachelor’s degrees, arguing it may disrupt the organization of public higher education in the state. AB 664, authored by Assembly Member David Alvarez, would allow the Southwestern Community College District in San Diego County to offer up to four bachelor’s degree programs. Supporters say the bill will help students in a region without a nearby public university access higher education. Under current state law, community college districts may submit proposals to establish up to 30 bachelor’s degree programs each academic year. These proposals can be rejected by the UC and California State University for “program duplication.” 

“AB 664 circumvents this process by authorizing Southwestern Community College District to establish additional baccalaureate degree programs without regard to existing law requirements related to degree duplication and whether the districts have the expertise, resources, and student interest in the program,” said Jessica Duong, legislative director for the UC Office of the President, in the opposition letter to Mike Fong, chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee. The letter also cited the California Master Plan for Higher Education...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/uc/uc-opposes-bill-allowing-southwestern-community-college-district-to-offer-bachelor-s-degrees/article_1df0748d-f942-4dd2-9410-a6acc00b7688.html.