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ERIC Number: ED457945
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2001-Feb-7
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Community College Baccalaureate: Its Meaning and Implications for the Organization of Postsecondary Education, the Mission and Character of the Community College, and the Bachelor's Degree.
Skolnik, Michael L.
This paper advocates the community college bachelor's degree (BA). The author presents the Canadian system as a possible model for the emerging United States trend toward community college BA programs. He argues that the U.S. binary educational system is vertical, separating institutions according to levels of learning, while the European and Canadian systems are horizontal, separating technical from academic institutions. The move toward a community college BA can be seen as a move away from a binary system. Most of the BA programs in Canadian two-year schools have been technical in nature, while those offered in the United States have been academic. There is fear that the new degree offering would divert U.S. community colleges from their mission of access to and equity in education, especially if the transfer function is eliminated. Yet the author suggests that the mission of the community college is always changing, and will continue to do so in its attempt to offer what learners need. He argues that in an era when nontraditional degrees and distance learning are commonplace, it makes no sense to deny community colleges the right to offer baccalaureate programs. (NB)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A