Moorpark College has been granted approval by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors to offer a bachelor’s degree in Biomanufacturing. The program will first be available in the fall of 2024.
The program is a two-year process that is intended to follow the procurement of an associate’s degree in Biotechnology and the completion of a general education curriculum.
Beginning in the fall of 2025, Oxnard College will be offering a bachelor’s degree in Dental Hygiene, and Ventura College will offer a bachelor’s degree in Automotive Career Education.
Alex Likes, a first-year student at Moorpark College, shared his thoughts regarding the new bachelor’s degree programs.
“I think this is a good improvement because it gives students more freedom and opportunities,” Likes stated.
Approval of the bachelor’s degree in Biomanufacturing is the first step toward Moorpark College’s goal of offering higher-level degrees in many fields. At the moment, the college is in the process of gaining approval for a Bachelor of Science in Applied Cybersecurity and Network Operations. Although, this task is not easily accomplished.
Mari Estrada-Gonzalez, the bachelor degree program director at Moorpark College, explained the obstacles community colleges face when seeking approval for a bachelor’s degree program.
“The way the law works, we cannot duplicate a program that exists at any [California State University],” Estrada-Gonzalez explained. “It’s not regional. If it exists in Eureka and we want to do it here, [the CSU] can submit a dispute and stop the whole process.”
In order to receive approval to offer a bachelor’s degree, the community college must prove that the program of courses they plan to offer is not similar to the program for that bachelor’s degree at any CSU. Although there is language to define a duplication in the law, there lacks a clear threshold which determines a program to be a duplication.
Further, the approval of a bachelor’s degree program at a community college in one region does not necessarily mean approval for the same program at another community college. There is no evident standard, deadline or timetable followed in order to resolve duplication concerns.
Without a clear boundary as to what is and isn’t duplication, the CSU is easily able to delay a new bachelor’s degree program and essentially block community colleges from offering bachelor’s degrees on these grounds.
The CSU is primarily concerned with threats to their enrollment. CSU Channel Islands is located between the campuses of Moorpark College and Oxnard College. According to the CSUCI website, the total enrollment at the university during the fall of 2022 was 5,643 students. In the fall of 2019, 13,911 students were enrolled at Moorpark College.
This data was collected prior to the community college offering a bachelor’s degree. It can be argued that more students choose to attend Moorpark College regardless of the option of attaining a higher-level degree.
“The bachelor’s degree programs the community colleges have proposed address unmet labor needs for specific industries,” Estrada-Gonzalez continued. “We have data that shows that the majority of our graduates would not have completed their bachelor’s degree had it not been offered at the community college. Students enrolled in our programs want to stay with the faculty they know and the campus they already attend.”
Moorpark College strives to be accessible to students in all situations, whether that be working a full-time job outside of school, living a great distance from campus, being unable to afford a high tuition or a multitude of other circumstances.
“If the CSU doesn’t want to lose students to community colleges, they should meet the students where they are by offering programs that lead to jobs at graduation and at times and modalities for working students,” Estrada-Gonzalez reasoned. “They can offer the program online; offer it on Friday, Saturday.”
The VCCCD aims to offer students more opportunities in higher-level education with the same flexibility they have always maintained. Those interested in learning more about the bachelor’s degree program may visit the Moorpark College website, or contact [email protected] with any questions.
