Illinois proposal would let community colleges like Black Hawk offer 4-year degrees
Black Hawk College President Jeremy Thomas said Tuesday he's excited for the school's future.
'Students come with different needs, different wants,' Thomas told Our Quad Cities News. '[A community college is] much more diverse than you would see a more restrictive four-year college level. We now have another option that I can offer to a student to say, 'I believe in you, and I want you to be successful.'
That new option could be four-year degrees at community colleges after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed the idea during his State of the State address. He even called community colleges one of the 'jewels' of the Illinois education system.
'We continue our partnerships with our universities over our four-year liberal arts transfer degree programs,' Thomas said. 'We're not here to replace that, but we are adding in the areas that they currently don't teach that we do well.'
Currently, more than 20 other states allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees.
'This allows students to earn an advanced degree and stay right here with a campus they are accustomed to, and faculty which they love,' Thomas said.
If the bill is passed, Thomas said he thinks Black Hawk College will look to first add four-year degree programs in the health profession, advanced manufacturing, and cyber security.
'These are programs we already have faculty (for,) so we don't have to start from scratch, but there will be approval processes,' Thomas said. 'That's all yet to be decided on what it will look like, so that will be the next step.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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