28-05-2025
Community colleges get 2nd shot to offer 4-year degrees, but not everyone is sold on the idea
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Governor J.B. Pritzker's proposal to allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees was revived under a different bill with one week left in the legislative session.
The bill passed the Executive Committee with eight in favor and four against it, despite strong opposition from the House Black Caucus.
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The bill would allow some community colleges to offer four-year degrees in specific areas such as nursing, cybersecurity and early childhood education.
Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl (D-Northbrook), who is leading the bill in the House, said it also helps working parents who can't easily access four-year colleges.
'It's about the local health care center that's got two dozen respiratory techs who came from the community college who are in their 30s who could be full respiratory therapists if only they could find a way to do this program 10 minutes from their home, 10 minutes from their workplace in that couple-hour gap,' Muhl said. 'Before or after they start their shift when they do have the childcare that doesn't interfere with the rest of their day.'
But not everyone is sold on the idea. Some Republicans raised concern about property tax increases and House Black Caucus members said it would hurt minorities and underfunded universities. One of the universities that was mentioned in the conversation was Chicago State University.
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Illinois has 12 public universities and 48 community colleges, the third largest system in the country. Rep. Curtis J. Tarver (D-Chicago) said the bill is a bad temporary solution for institutions like Chicago State, and he didn't shy away from mentioning the Black Caucus' disapproval.
'Chicago State is hemorrhaging and you as an administration are handing them Band-Aids and they need stitches. Then you come in and you provide a bill that's going to be even worse for them with 11 community colleges within 25 miles of them,' Tarver said. 'I'm saying as we sit here, the Black Caucus has an issue with the bill and the sponsors are obviously aware of that. It's not a secret.'
The initial bill in both the House and the Senate stalled after not getting called in committee, with some lawmakers removing their co-sponsorship. Now it heads to the House floor, where it could face some challenges.
'The way that I do math it's very very difficult to get to 60 Democrats,' Tarver said. 'And if you take 21 off the 78, I think you have a very difficult path.'
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Representatives from the Illinois Community College Board and Rep. Katz Muhl said some public university presidents, including Chicago State University's, were part of drafting the bill and are on the board. The presidents sent emails noting they do not have an official position on the bill.
However, Tarver and Rep. Norine K. Hammond (R-Macomb) said the universities didn't really have a choice, since they depend on state funding and since the proposal was mentioned by Pritzker.
'This letter is a result of threats to our four-year universities. I don't respect that at all. This letter is coerced,' Hammond said.
For community colleges to implement four-year degrees there would need to be demand for the classes, or they could build upon an existing program.
'So there's no instance in the way that this is laid out where suddenly, a college decides 'I want to build an advanced manufacturing baccalaureate from scratch,'' Executive Director of the Illinois Community College Board Brian Durham said.
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