Effective on Monday, Bellevue Community College (BCC) will no longer be referred to as BCC. It will now be called Bellevue College, with the college deciding to change their name because they will now be offering bachelor degrees, not just associate degrees as community colleges traditionally do.
The college plans to hand out 18 bachelor degrees this spring, according to a news release from the college.
“Because many people associate ‘community college’ with associate degrees only, we want our first baccalaureate graduates to have Bellevue College on their diplomas,” Jean Floten, president of the college, said in the release.
This change will bring a new logo for the Bellevue College, but, according to the press release, they will continue using the old logo until all of the supplies are gone.
The impetus for the name change began--and for the practice of offering bachelor’s degrees--when the college realizes that there was a need for studying radiation and imaging sciences at a higher level. So the college began the bachelor of Applied Science in Radiation and Imaging Sciences program in the fall of 2007.
Floten said they hope to bring this opportunity to more degrees in the future.
“We stepped outside our traditional role as a two-year college because of the urgent need for more bachelor degree opportunities in radiation and imaging sciences,” Floten reasoned in the news release.
According to the Bellevue College, the college first notified the state of Washington of the name change in November of 2008, with the college’s Board of Trustees approving the name change on March 11th. And now, as of Monday, BCC is no more.
Bellevue College is the third largest school in Washington with 35,000 students, falling short of the attendance rates of both University of Washington and Washington State.
But Washington isn’t the only state to be taking this next step in expanding their programs. Other community colleges around the nation are also beginning to offer bachelor’s degrees, with ABC News pointing out that “last year, 95 community colleges in 11 states offered bachelor’s degrees.”
Effective in August, the Santa Fe Community College in Florida, now known as Santa Fe College, will be offering two types of bachelor’s degrees, according to ABC News.
Santa Fe College is not the only Florida community college to be offering bachelor’s degrees. ABC News reported that 10 out of the 28 Florida community colleges now offer a wide range of bachelor’s degrees.
But as many community colleges take the step to offering bachelors degrees, some students fear this isn’t the right step.
Adelsia Jones, who is working for her associate’s degree at Santa Fe College in Florida, told ABC News she would just rather transfer.
“I just don’t think a community college looks as good on your resume for when you are trying to find a job,” Jones said.
While community colleges begin to offer bachelor degrees, will more students stay at community colleges over the four-year universities to obtain their bachelor’s degrees? Given the current financial climate, their finances just may depend on it.
Our Take:
I think that this is a great opportunity for everyone. Being able to achieve a bachelor’s degree at a community college really helps those who have full-time jobs and can’t attend a four-year university. It also helps for those who are unable to pay for the four-year schooling because it tends to be more expensive than the community college, so for those in tight financial situations this will greatly benefit them.
I do understand where Jones is coming from, about jobs being hesitant about seeing a community college on a resume. But I feel that because a decent amount of schools are on this new path of offering bachelor’s degrees, employers will better sympathize with students.
