Community Colleges to State Colleges: A
Florida Perspective

By Susan Butler, Gulf Coast Community College, Panama City, FL

The website for the American Association of Community Colleges quietly lists the following statistic: “Baccalaureates: awarded by 29 public and 66 independent colleges."

This entity, the baccalaureate-granting community college, is fast developing as a hot topic among the community college population. Further discussions on the subject have been fueled by recent Florida legislation, Senate Bill 1716. This bill created a new entity, the Florida College System, comprised of public postsecondary educational institutions that grant two- and four-year academic degrees, but are prohibited from offering graduate degree programs. The bill also created the Florida College System Task Force and the State College Pilot Project. The Task Force will develop a process by which community colleges can transition into baccalaureate-granting institutions. The Pilot Project is composed of nine Florida community colleges and will develop a program approval process to be followed by the State Board of Education when it considers proposals for new baccalaureate degree programs. The pilot institutions will also set up a funding model for the new State Colleges.

In September 2008, the State College Pilot Project issued a set of Guiding Principles for Florida’s new State Colleges. These Principles define state colleges as “the 28 two- and four-year public institutions that offer bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, career and technical certificates, remedial studies, and/or adult education” and state that the new State Colleges are subject to all statutes and rules which apply to Florida community colleges. The Principles also affirm that State Colleges will “uphold the traditional community college mission for lower division” (providing open admissions access; being responsive to local educational needs and challenges; providing dual enrollment courses; providing advising, counseling, financial aid, learning centers, and tutoring; promoting local economic development; and ensuring seamless transition to other Florida colleges and universities). While maintaining the traditional mission, however, the new State Colleges are also committed to providing “high quality baccalaureate degrees responsive to local, regional, and statewide educational and workforce needs.” They will base new program offering on such needs, require associate degrees (or equivalents) for admission to upper-division programs, maintain SACS Level II accreditations, seek discipline level accreditations where applicable and maintain a “one faculty philosophy” since courses taught in both upper and lower divisions apply toward the bachelor’s degree.

A recent survey, conducted at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida (a college which is not one of the nine pilot institutions) revealed some interesting results. The survey stated, “Recent Florida legislation allows Florida community colleges to grant four-year degrees and be designated as State Colleges.” Respondents were asked to choose one of the following two options: a) I am in favor of this legislation or b) I am not in favor of this legislation. They were then asked to elaborate on their choices. The figure below shows the results of this survey:

Of those respondents “in favor” of the legislation, the most common reason cited for this response was that the new law would increase educational access or opportunities for students. The most common reason given by those “not in favor” was the possibility of diluting the mission of community colleges. With an overall 55-45 percent for/against split, the Gulf Coast Community College survey reveals ambivalence towards the move to baccalaureate-granting institutions.

This ambivalence may also exist in other institutions, both inside and outside Florida. These institutions will be watching the development of the Florida State College system carefully. Will the new State Colleges be able to fulfill their Guiding Principles? What lessons can the State College Pilot Project and the Florida College System Task Force teach the nation about transitioning from community colleges to State Colleges? Let’s monitor this process to see.