Matt Gray Columnist

A few years ago, a friend of mine enrolled at Pima Community College. I asked him what it was like, and I'll never forget his response: "It's like high school, with ashtrays." Whether that particular analogy is a good one or not, some state leaders are attempting to give Arizona's community colleges more substance.

Last week, a bill died in the Arizona Senate that would have allowed community colleges to offer upper-level classes and bachelor's degrees. The full House of Representatives approved the bill, but it failed to make it out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. However, Rep. Laura Knaperek, who sponsored the bill in the House, has said that she hasn't given up yet. Hopefully she never will. Allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees is a good move for Arizona.

Bringing bachelor's degrees to PCC and other community colleges would open the doors of opportunity to a new group of Arizona students. Students that want a college degree but are unable to gain admission to the state universities would have somewhere to turn. Students that just can't afford to attend the state universities would have a lower-cost alternative.

Four-year degrees at community colleges would also be a great benefit to students who don't fit into the traditional college mold. Community colleges are better at providing evening and weekend classes for those who need to work a full-time job while working toward their degree. In addition, this bill would bring the possibility of a bachelor's degree into many Arizona communities that the UA, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University don't reach. Residents in places like Douglas, Kingman and the Verde Valley could avoid having to choose between staying home and getting a degree.

The biggest benefit of expanding the number of baccalaureate programs would come from training more people to do the jobs for which new applicants are desperately needed. Currently Arizona, along with the rest of the country, is suffering from a serious nursing shortage. The possible community benefits from new nursing institutions alone seem to make the proposal a no-brainer.

So who is standing in the way? The universities, of course. The UA, NAU and ASU oppose the plan and instead propose we study the problem further. Ah yes, the "further-study" card, the government's ultimate tool to make it seem like it's doing something while plainly stalling (see Social Security for the past few decades).

To be fair, the universities have some real concerns. This plan, like a lot of ideas, sounds nice but certainly isn't going to be free. The UA, ASU and NAU have had a hard enough time getting money from the state as it is without having to compete with a bevy of new community college four-year programs. That being said, fear of competition from a great program shouldn't be enough to banish Knaperek's proposal into "further-study" hell.

Besides, this program would also allow the universities to move closer to many of their goals. Many university departments have been pushing their academic standards higher and higher in an effort to create better programs. While raising standards helps prestige, it hurts the Arizona students that want to learn business but don't have the grades to be Eller or Carey (the ASU business school) material. Allowing four-year programs at community colleges would help to remove the universities from their long-standing role of being everything to every student. The universities could be more selective without taking away the only opportunities available to many Arizona residents.

In the end, PCC is never going to present a serious academic challenge to the UA in nursing or any other field. Four-year PCC grads won't be students who would have gone to the UA. They'll be students who probably wouldn't have gone anywhere. It's time we gave those people a chance.

Sure, the Legislature probably won't provide enough money, but that's a reality Arizona educators have to live with every day, and every day they find a way to succeed. Arizona leaders should put their fears aside and unlock the undergraduate vault for thousands of people across the state by allowing community colleges to give out four-year degrees.

Matt Gray is a second-year law student. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.