Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday signed legislation allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees.
“Arizona is a school choice state, and today’s action is school choice for higher education,” Ducey said of Senate Bill 1453, which passed the legislature last week. “It will allow students even more opportunities as they strengthen their education and expand their employment opportunities.”
The measure has been debated for decades and coincides with President Biden’s push for free community college, an option already open to students at Mesa Community College in suburban Phoenix.
Arizona joins 23 other states that allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees in limited circumstances.
“Allowing community colleges like Yavapai College to offer four-year degrees will save students money, draw more students to our school and build up our workforce,” said Yavapai College President Lisa Rhine.
Under the legislation, community colleges opting to offer baccalaureate degrees must approve each program based on specific criteria, including workforce need, a financial and administrative analysis of the feasibility of offering the program, and mitigating duplication.
“When community colleges offer four-year degrees, it opens up opportunities for more students of all ages and backgrounds,” said Eastern Arizona College President Todd Haynie.
Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, who sponsored the bill, said the measure would increase diversity in education and improve the state’s economic prospects.
“As more and more jobs come to Arizona, we need to make sure our workforce is ready to meet the demand,” he said.
The Arizona Board of Regents, which governs the state’s three public universities, did not comment on the bill’s signing. The bill creates competition for students and funding. The universities of Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona have billions of dollars worth of bonds outstanding and do not enjoy the property-tax bases of the community colleges.
The law also provides a challenge to for-profit colleges that tend to gear course offerings toward specific career paths.
In challenging the legislation, some Democrats saw the bill as another threat to funding for higher education. In recent years, Arizona has reduced its support for public universities, forcing them to rely on tuition increases that have made them less affordable.
“We recognize the financial hardship faced by many students due to the pandemic and its impacts on the economy, so we appreciate the efforts of university presidents who have avoided any tuition increase for Arizona resident undergraduates for two consecutive years,” Arizona Board of Regents Chairman Larry Penley said in a recent announcement.
