Prospects for Scaling Community College Baccalaureates in Six Great Lakes States. Data Note 9. New Baccalaureate Series

As part of our research on the community college baccalaureate (CCB), we studied the prospects of adopting and scaling CCB degrees in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Higher education leaders in these six Great Lakes states recognized the potential for CCB degrees to increase academic, geographic and financial access to higher education but concerns about mission creep, program duplication, and competition with universities within their states were on their minds. All leaders thought a more in-depth approach to analyzing labor force demand for CCB degree graduates would be helpful. In response, we used federal and state datasets to estimate job vacancies and annual degree conferral and found openings in business, software development, early childhood education, and registered nursing that may hold promise for CCB degrees in one or more Great Lakes states. [For Data Note 8, see ED608176.]