PHOENIX ÷ A bill that would form a six-year pilot program letting community colleges offer four-year bachelor's degrees in some subjects passed out of committee yesterday, despite criticism that it would cripple the state's higher education system.
Sponsored by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, the bill lets community colleges offer degrees in law enforcement, fire science, nursing and teaching.
Pearce said the measure remedies the soaring cost of a university education and problems of access that limit rural Arizonans' opportunities to pursue bachelor's degrees.
"Tuition is going up and the cost is going up, and I think we have an opportunity to allow people to pursue what career they want to pursue," Pearce said.
Various community colleges spoke in favor of the bill.
"There is still a need statewide for these four-year programs," said Kristen Boilini, a Community Colleges Association lobbyist. "What this will do is increase access for students in certain types of programs. · We are not trying to compete with the universities."
On the contrary, the bill would make universities compete for students, their tuition dollars and more importantly the limited state revenue contributions, said UA lobbyist Greg Fahey.
Pearce criticized opposition from the universities, saying they are putting financial concerns before what's best for people seeking higher education in the state.
"The bottom line is they are afraid it will cut into their profit," Pearce said.
Lobbyists from private and state universities said they were caught off guard by the bill, which emerged in the form of a "striker," a tactic used to get around bill filing deadlines by gutting the contents of a dead bill and inserting new legislation in its place.
"What you are talking about is one of the most major issues this state can confront," said Don Issacson, a University of Phoenix lobbyist who didn't hear about the bill until Monday.
While Pearce maintained there had been a dialogue among himself, the universities and the community colleges, Fahey said no one had discussed the bill with the universities and said they learned of the bill just days ago.
Pearce said the reason for the late drop was that he had been working out details of the bill since January and had just recently finished that process.
Major criticism of the bill was that it changes the role of community colleges from career-based training, and in effect, turns them into full-fledged universities.
"It's like saying we got a guy who plays really good at center, so let's make him a quarterback. · It doesn't make sense," said Matt Salmon, an Arizona State University lobbyist and former gubernatorial candidate who spoke on behalf of the state's universities.
Salmon also said he was worried the pilot program would turn into a permanent fixture in the community colleges.
"I have never seen in my career a pilot program that went away. They stay forever and ever," Salmon said.
Fahey echoed some of Salmon's concerns.
"What starts to happen is pretty soon they turn into four-year schools, and then you need to recreate a community system because they lose track of their mission," Fahey said.
Another concern was that by drawing nursing students away from the three-year associate degrees that community colleges offer into four-year programs, the statewide nursing shortage could be intensified.
"We can't fill the void of nurses with the way we do it now, and I don't see how this is going to help by tacking on another year to the (associate's degree of nursing)," said Rep. Bill Konopnicki, R-Safford.
Ultimately, Konopnicki cast a cautionary vote of approval for the bill, which passed out of the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 9-6, asking for major amendments to the bill before he would approve it for a final vote.
"I think we're embarking on something that could end up costing us a lot of money," said Konopnicki. "Are we really ready to commit to another group of four-year colleges on top of the ones we already have?"
Community colleges receive the bulk of their funding from the local level, while state universities receive significantly more state revenue.
"There is a pie only this big. · Are you willing to raise taxes or just pass it on to the local level," Salmon asked.
President Peter Likins said lawmakers are sadly mistaken if they think the measure will save the state any money.
"They say to themselves community colleges are more cost-effective. · My response is community colleges are cost-effective because they only offer entry-level courses," Likins said. "It's an illusion if they think allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees will save any money."
Likins said he prefers a two-plus-two program, which couples community colleges that teach two years of entry-level courses with university programs that teach two years of advanced studies.