Gov. Brown Signs Bill To Allow Bachelor Degrees At Comunity Colleges

Governor Jerry Brown approved SB 850 – a bill that will allow two-year colleges to offer four-year degrees.

Quetzal Sanchez says she wishes “they would have done it sooner,” since this is her last semester at Allan Hancock College.

Sanchez’s friend, Samuel Perez, is thrilled about this change and thinks it will provide more opportunities at a cheaper cost.

Perez tells KEYT/KCOY/KKFX’s Cory James that he thinks it will keep people from spending too “much money on expensive classes at big universities.”

Allan Hancock College’s president, Kevin Walthers, says “To have that four year option at a public school right here on our campus will be tremendous for our community.”

The new legislation applies to 112 community colleges in the state but only 15 schools will be allowed to launch bachelor degree programs in vocational fields.

It is a pilot program that will start no later than 2017 and end in 2024.