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Nearly half of the states allow community colleges to award bachelor's degrees as one strategy to meet workforce demands, increase access to educational and career advancement opportunities, address affordability and raise attainment rates. Emerging research also suggests that community college bachelor's degrees may play a role in better serving a more diverse student population. Students who enroll in community college bachelor's programs are typically adult learners who are working and may not be in a position to study full time toward a bachelor's or transfer to a four-year institution. Further, the programs may address the low rates of underserved students and rural residents with a bachelor's degree. This Policy Brief captures recent state policy activity pertaining to community college bachelor's degree programs, summarizes arguments for and against these policies and offers policy considerations for states starting or expanding these programs.

This Policy Snapshot provides summary information for 2017 legislation related to attainment goals and plans, as well as policy actions from previous years.

Concerned with low on-time graduation rates, state lawmakers continue to turn to outcomes-based funding (OBF) as one policy approach to support postsecondary degree attainment and workforce goals. Policymakers have also been confronted with constituent complaints about student debt loads, course schedules and academic programs that force students to enroll in additional terms, and transfer policies that require students to retake courses already completed at other public two- and four-year institutions in the same state. This Policy Snapshot defines and explores outcomes-based funding, and provides summary information on 2016 and 2017 legislative activities.

Guided pathways are emerging as a strategy to help students complete a credential in a timely manner by encouraging or requiring them to select a program, and develop a degree plan or map, on a specified timeline. At a minimum, institutions may ask students to identify a meta-major, which is a broad area of academic programs with related courses (for example, business, health care or social sciences). Guided pathways programs typically include structured course plans and intensive support services to keep students on track to finish their credential or transfer to complete a degree. This report from the Education Commission of the States examines state policies related to guided pathways and concludes that in 2016 two bills were enacted, ten were introduced, and at least six states considered guided pathways legislation. The report provides an additional update from the 2017 legislative session and profiles states that have passed related policies in recent years.

A growing number of states allow community colleges to award bachelor's degrees as one strategy to meet workforce demands, address affordability, and increase access to educational opportunities. Offering bachelor's degrees traditionally has been the domain of four-year institutions, while community colleges have been established to award associate degrees and certificates. Further, community colleges have served as open-enrollment institutions with few, if any, admission requirements. As a result, the expanded role of community colleges into the bachelor's degree arena is not without controversy. Concerns center on the historically distinct missions of the two postsecondary sectors, competition with four-year institutions, duplication of programs and quality of the bachelor's degrees conferred by community colleges, among others. This Education Commission of the States' Policy Analysis examines state policies that allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees, summarizes arguments for and against these policies, and offers key policy considerations related to community college bachelor's degree programs.