A select number of community colleges in California could soon expand to include four-year degrees if Governor Jerry Brown signs Senate Bill 850.

SB850, authored by Senator Marty Block from District 39 representing San Diego, Coronado, Del Mar and Solano Beach, was amended and passed by the state senate Aug. 18, requiring Brown’s approval as the next step.

If passed, a pilot program commencing Jan. 1, 2015, would be authorized in 15 districts, each with one baccalaureate program.

In a press release, Block addressed the state’s needs of at least one million graduates to enter the workforce by 2025, explaining how 21 states since 1970 allow community colleges to offer four year degrees.

The U.S. Department of Education in 2012 calculated 59 percent of first-time, full-time students entering a four-year university received their bachelor’s degree within six years.

“[Senate Bill] 850 boosts the focus of our community colleges on job training now when California faces a major skills gap in our workforce,” Block said.

The bill states programs within the California Community College system can begin no later than the 2017-2018 year and “would require a student participating in a baccalaureate degree pilot program to complete his or her degree by the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.”

Schools in the pilot program would not be identical to those offered in the California State University or University of California systems as they would be offering non-duplicative degrees.

According to the bill, each program would be determined by CCC Chancellor Brice Harris and approved by the board of governors.

Harris said careers that once required an associate degree now have higher standards, often pushing for baccalaureate degrees, emphasizing the need for community colleges in California to extend their program.

CCC Vice Chancellor of Governmental Relations Vincent Stewart said the idea behind the bill is to provide high quality education at an affordable cost to the state and be acceptable for students who may not have access to a four-year institution.