Competing, Coordinating, or Collaborating: Perspectives on the Community College Baccalaureate Within the Context of Mission Differentiation
Today, half of all states authorize at least one community college to offer bachelor's degree programs. In the past five years alone, eight states have authorized community colleges to offer baccalaureate programs. Given the momentum behind this movement, we sought to qualitatively explore high...
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| Published in: | Community college journal of research and practice Vol. 48; no. 12; pp. 758 - 772 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington
Routledge
01-12-2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Today, half of all states authorize at least one community college to offer bachelor's degree programs. In the past five years alone, eight states have authorized community colleges to offer baccalaureate programs. Given the momentum behind this movement, we sought to qualitatively explore higher education leaders' perceptions of the role of community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs in the U.S. system of higher education. To do this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 senior leaders at community colleges, state higher education agencies, and higher education associations. Our sample also included leaders in locations that currently authorize CCB programs and those that do not. We asked leaders to share their perspectives on the mission and role of community colleges and public universities, and to reflect on how CCB programs complement or complicate these missions and roles. While leaders offered differing views on CCB programs, what they shared were insights into the blurring of a once sharp dividing line between community colleges and public universities. Emerging from the interviews were interesting perspectives on inter-institutional collaboration, coordination, and competition in the era of the CCB. We conclude our study with recommendations for policy and practice.
In this study, we interviewed 15 leaders who hold a variety of senior leadership roles in higher education. We asked them to share their thoughts on the current mission and role of community colleges and public universities in the U.S. higher education system. We then asked them to share their perspectives on the role of community college baccalaureate programs and how they see these programs fitting in given the missions of community colleges and public universities. We found that leaders commonly emphasized service to the local community, access and affordability, transfer, workforce engines, and agility when describing the mission of community colleges. In describing the mission of public universities, leaders emphasized differences between flagships and regional universities, the public service mission, research, and graduate education. While all leaders saw value in expanding access to baccalaureate programs, some questioned whether community college baccalaureate programs were the best way to do it while others were staunch defenders. Leaders also described how authorizing community college baccalaureate programs in some situations may increase competition for students and resources between community colleges and public universities, but in other situations may result in greater coordination or even collaboration between public institutions. Given these findings, we recommend state policymakers determine whether college and university leaders view their state higher education environment as mostly competitive, coordinated, or collaborative. For states considering authorizing or expanding community college baccalaureate programs, we recommend taking steps to foster a more collaborative environment by providing necessary resources to support cross-institution collaboration. We also believe higher education associations can leverage their diverse memberships to help facilitate greater discussion of these programs and to promote greater collaboration across institutions. |
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| ISSN: | 1066-8926 1521-0413 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10668926.2023.2236050 |