Assemblyman Marty Block will present a bill in February that could alter California’s 50-year-old Master Plan for Higher Education by establishing a pilot program that allows community colleges to offer four-year degrees.

According to the master plan, which was signed in 1960 by Gov. Edmund Brown, the public postsecondary education system has three segments: the University of California system, which was designed to provide undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees; the California State University system, which was designed to provided undergraduate and graduate degrees; and the California Community Colleges, which were designed to provide academic and vocational instruction through the first two years of undergraduate degrees.

Block said with the current budget cuts, class reductions and impacted programs, Californians need to look for alternative solutions to continue the state’s strong public higher education system. His solution is to make adjustments to the role of community colleges in the master plan.

“First of all, a 50-year-old plan, something that was good in 1960, is not necessarily going to meet the needs of 2010,” he said, adding that the plan has already been changed in the past decade.

In 2005, a Senate bill was signed into law allowing the CSU to offer doctorate in edutation degrees. The goal of Senate Bill 724 was to “enhance educational opportunity” by providing additional resources to students, said Gene Washington, executive vice chancellor at UC San Francisco, who spoke in favor of the bill in a 2005 committee hearing.

Block said his bill has a similar goal.

He said he wants to provide educational opportunities and training in fields with personnel shortages, such as nursing, education and public safety.

According to the chancellor’s office, the CSU system does not have a position in the measure.

“It is too early in the legislative process to know what the impacts might be,” said CSU spokesman Erik Fallis in an e-mail.

California isn’t the only state that has looked into such a system. Community colleges in 17 states, including Florida, Texas and Nevada, already offer four-year degrees.

Great Basin College in Nevada has been offering four-year degrees for more than 10 years. John Rice, director of institutional advancement at Great Basin College, said community colleges that offer four-year degrees aren’t necessarily trying to fit the mold of a university.

“Community colleges are designed so they can quickly respond to the needs of the community and often times those are connected workforce development,” he said.

In the case of Great Basin, the school is trying to provide programs that community members might not be able to complete elsewhere, Rice said.

Rice, who completed his doctorate at Capella University, based his dissertation on community colleges that offer four-year degrees. He said the ultimate goal of community colleges and universities will never be the same; therefore, never rendering a system obsolete.

Beth Hagan, spokeswoman for the Community College Baccalaureate Association, agreed.

She said many people fear four-year universities will become less desirable, but it is not the case. She added that many community colleges target specific groups of people.

“The degrees that are being conferred across the United States are applied degrees that are not the venue of the university,” Hagan said. “Or they are nursing and teacher education where the universities are not able to meet the demand.”

Hagan said she believes California’s impacted university systems may play a greater role in the passing of the bill, in comparison with other states.

Last fall, the CSU and UC systems saw a decreased in number of students admitted in universities. This spring, many universities, including Sacramento State, did not admit any students.

Jenni Reily, senior nursing major, said she believes a pilot program could help reduce the number of impacted nursing programs around California.

“I think it could be beneficial to students because it’s really hard to get into a nursing program,” she said.

Block’s office is working with three community colleges in Southern California, including San Diego Community College, which are interested in offering four-year degrees.

The cost for such programs in California is undetermined. If passed, the bill can take effect as early as Jan. 1, 2011.

Nallelie Vega can be reached at [email protected].