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Three-year bachelor’s degrees are slowly emerging as a strategy to reduce cost and time to completion while expanding access for today’s students. In this Higher Ed Careers interview, Andrew Hibel, COO of HigherEdJobs, speaks with Lisa B. Rhine, Ph.D., president of Yavapai College, about the nation’s first 92-credit bachelor’s degree at a community college, designed for working adults, shaped by industry partnerships, and positioned to support workforce needs.
Andrew Hibel, HigherEdJobs: What problem were you trying to solve when you first envisioned a three-year bachelor’s program, and how does it support working adults and underrepresented students?
Lisa B. Rhine, Ph.D., president, Yavapai College: The average student at Yavapai College is 29 years old, attending part time, has some college credit but no credentials, is working, and has familial obligations. As a community college, we accept everyone, and for many, the educational experiences we offer provide them with the greatest chance to improve their economic mobility. Cost and time to completion are both significant factors in why individuals choose not to attend or do not complete.
The 92-credit optimized degrees provide a pathway to completion specifically for our students. Designed in an eight-week format, offered online, and using Open Education Resources (OER) and low- or no-cost textbooks, we are providing the academic experience our students have been asking for and the skilled workforce our employers need.
Hibel: What did it actually take to reduce a traditional 120-credit program down to 92 credits? Where were you able to streamline, and what trade-offs did you make?
Rhine: We worked closely with our business faculty, industry partners serving on our advisory councils, and our graduate school partners. We started with business because we have a successful 121-credit Bachelor of Science in business with four different concentrations.
We were required to maintain the general education requirements per the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which is 32 credits. After reviewing the required program learning outcomes, we maintained 18 lower-division credits that are foundational to the discipline, as well as 30 upper-division credits that include our capstone courses and experiences. We added 12 credits designed as a business leadership certificate to round out the 92-credit program. We removed the unique concentration courses that are part of the 121-credit degree.
Hibel: You highlight faculty-industry partnerships as a key part of this model. How are those partnerships structured, and how do they influence the curriculum or student experience?
Rhine: Faculty were included throughout the process. In the early planning stages, we engaged faculty senate leaders, general education faculty, and curriculum committee faculty. As we narrowed the focus to a discipline-specific degree, we worked closely with both full-time and adjunct business faculty to develop the program. Through our internal processes, faculty designed, modified, and approved the curriculum before it was sent forward to the college president and the district governing board.
Hibel: For community colleges interested in building a similar program, what advice can you share?
Rhine: Review your community data. Identify which industries in your area need support through a workforce that requires a bachelor’s degree. Identify student interest at your institution. Consider faculty expertise and the credentials required to offer a bachelor’s degree.
Review your academic support resources, including the library, tutoring, academic coaching, instructional designers, and curriculum teams, to ensure adequate support. Understand your student advising model and how offering a bachelor’s degree will fit within your existing structure or whether it will require new resources.
For program development, connect with community colleges already engaged in this work and organizations such as the Community College Baccalaureate Association.
Hibel: How do you see three-year bachelor’s degrees fitting into the future of community colleges?
Rhine: Optimized degrees meet student and employer needs by providing a rigorous educational program while reducing costs and time to completion. In states where community colleges can offer bachelor’s degrees, this should be considered as a way to support both students and industry partners.
Hibel: Were there any accreditation challenges, and if so, how did you address them?
Rhine: As the first community college going through this process with the HLC, we expected to be highly scrutinized. The Yavapai College team put together a strong application and prepared for multiple scenarios before the site visit.
While the visit was very thorough, the preparation required provided confidence across the college that we were ready to lead in this innovative space. Following the standard process, we received full support from the HLC to proceed with the degree program.
Hibel: Since launching the degree program last year, what have you learned, and what, if anything, has surprised you?
Rhine: The acceptance of the optimized degrees has been strong among industry partners, graduate schools, and students. We thought students might begin to favor one degree over the other, but enrollment continues to grow at nearly the same pace as the 121-credit degree.
There appears to be space for both programs to exist, meeting the diverse needs of our student population.
