Four million Californians carry federal student loan debt totaling nearly $150 billion. With student loan repayments resuming again this month, many are feeling the weight of college debt once again. But a 2021 California law, which allows community colleges to offer some bachelor’s degrees, may help alleviate that burden for some future students. Los Angeles Times education reporter Debbie Truong joined host Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today” to explain why some colleges are pushing back against this option. 

Truong explained that, while Cal State colleges are relatively affordable, pursuing a degree is still financially out of reach for many prospective students. She broke down what community colleges can offer bachelor’s degrees in.

“A lot of the programs are focused on career and technical education,” she said. “For example, I went out into the Antelope Valley and I visited their airframe manufacturing technology program out there. Antelope Valley, of course, is a hub for a lot of aviation or space companies, so they decided to focus on that. I also went to West Los Angeles College, where they started a dental hygiene program. The administrators there were explaining to me that there aren’t really any dental hygiene programs available to students in the Los Angeles area.”

However, Cal State universities have expressed opposition to community colleges offering some degrees.

"Cal State has said that they support generally bachelor's degrees in community colleges, but they oppose ones that duplicate existing programs in the Cal State system," said Truong. "Their argument is that it might be a waste of taxpayer money to recreate programs that already exist in other systems. The community colleges, of course, say [they're] not trying to educate the same students at the state necessarily. And so these programs are still very much needed."

Truong looked ahead to the future of the program.

"The state allows 30 community college bachelor's programs to start each year," she said. "I have not seen any indication that the Cal State will try to push back on that altogether. Twenty-two colleges are still accepting applications for four new programs. And they told me that they expect to see an uptick."

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview.

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