Bill Text: IL SB3787 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Public Community College Act. Allows the board of trustees of a community college district to establish and offer a baccalaureate degree program and confer a bachelor's degree if the board of trustees and the program meet specified conditions. Provides for an application for approval from the Illinois Community College Board. Sets forth community college requirements and prohibitions for establishing a baccalaureate degree program. Provides that a community college district that offers a baccalaureate degree program shall submit an annual report to the Illinois Community College Board. Sets forth what that report shall include. Provides for a statewide evaluation of a baccalaureate degree program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-02 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Javier L. Cervantes [SB3787 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3787-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB3787 Introduced 2/9/2024, by Sen. Michael W. Halpin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 805/3-29.26 new
Amends the Public Community College Act. Allows the board of trustees of a community college district to establish and offer a baccalaureate degree program and confer a bachelor's degree if the board of trustees and the program meet specified conditions. Provides for an application for approval from the Illinois Community College Board. Sets forth community college requirements and prohibitions for establishing a baccalaureate degree program. Provides that a community college district that offers a baccalaureate degree program shall submit an annual report to the Illinois Community College Board. Sets forth what that report shall include. Provides for a statewide evaluation of a baccalaureate degree program.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Findings. The General Assembly finds the
following:
(1) Four-year degrees in applied fields of study are of
increasing importance in enabling individuals to qualify for
and obtain jobs.
(2) It is a priority in this State to promote equitable
access and afford the citizens in this State, particularly
underserved student populations and those in rural areas of
this State, greater access to higher education.
(3) Research has shown the following:
(A) Most students attend college within 50 miles of
their home, and many Illinois residents live outside of
commuting distance to a public institution of higher
education.
(B) In states where the community college
baccalaureate has been implemented, typical graduates are
older, are working, or have family responsibilities that
preclude them from attending traditional baccalaureate
programs.
(C) Community college baccalaureate graduates are
often more racially diverse than counterparts in similar

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programs of study.
(4) Community colleges can help fill the gaps in this
State's higher education system by granting baccalaureate
degrees to meet the growing demand for a skilled workforce by
increasing access and reducing costs for students.
(5) It is in this State's interest to enable community
colleges to seek authorization to offer baccalaureate degrees.
(6) Baccalaureate degree programs offered pursuant to this
Act do not otherwise alter the role and mission of a public
community college. Nothing in this Act is intended to reduce
the State's commitment to improving associate to baccalaureate
program transfer pathways for Illinois students.
Section 5. The Public Community College Act is amended by
adding Section 3-29.26 as follows:
(110 ILCS 805/3-29.26 new)
Sec. 3-29.26. Baccalaureate degree program.
(a) A board of trustees may establish and offer a
baccalaureate degree program and confer a bachelor's degree if
all the following conditions are met:
(1) The board of trustees meets all of the
requirements as set forth in subsection (b) of this
Section and has been approved by the State Board to offer a
bachelor's degree.
(2) After the program has been approved by the State

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Board, the Board of Higher Education shall consider the
program for approval in a manner consistent with new
bachelor's degree programs at public and private
universities in this State.
(3) The board of trustees has identified and
documented, in writing, unmet workforce needs in the
region served by the community college in the subject area
of the baccalaureate degree program to be offered. The
board of trustees shall publish the documentation on the
community college district's website, make the
documentation publicly available, and shall present the
documentation to the State Board.
(4) The community college shall hold an applicable
accreditation for the baccalaureate degree program or have
applied for the accreditation.
(5) The board of trustees must demonstrate, in the
board of trustee's equity plans, how the baccalaureate
degree program will demonstrate improved racial and
socioeconomic equity in student access, enrollment, and
completion by focusing outreach efforts on and giving
preference to those students to meet workforce needs.
(6) Tuition per credit hour for the third and fourth
years of a 4-year baccalaureate program may not exceed
150% of the tuition per credit hour of related
lower-division course tuition.
(b) The board of trustees shall demonstrate the district

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has the expertise, resources, and student interest to offer a
baccalaureate degree. An application for approval from the
State Board shall include, but is not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) The board of trustees shall describe the labor
market need as specified in paragraph (3) of subsection
(a).
(2) The board of trustees must demonstrate that the
baccalaureate degree program will not unnecessarily
duplicate the degree programs offered by other
institutions of higher education in the community
college's district.
(3) The board of trustees shall describe the program's
purpose and its target population, related occupations,
and career paths.
(4) The board of trustees may demonstrate that the
baccalaureate degree program is built on existing
associate degree programs and that the baccalaureate
degree program prepares graduates for professional and
technical employment and opportunity to matriculate to
graduate degree programs, when applicable.
(5) The board of trustees shall demonstrate that the
community college has developed quality curricula that
align with federal, State, and local requirements and will
prepare students with the appropriate level of skill to
meet students' educational goals.

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(6) The board of trustees shall demonstrate student
demand for the baccalaureate program.
(7) The board of trustees shall verify the community
college has the fiscal resources in place or has budgeted
for financial support for the program in a cost-effective
manner.
(8) The board of trustees shall identify and document
the faculty available for teaching the program, including
the number of full-time faculty anticipated to teach in
the program, a description of the faculty's
qualifications, including the highest degree earned,
teaching experience, professional experience, and licenses
held by the faculty. The board of trustees must also
indicate how faculty are to be evaluated.
(c) A community college district is prohibited from using
semester credit hours generated in a baccalaureate degree
program for grants received pursuant to Section 2-16.02 of
this Act.
(d) The board of trustees of a community college
developing a baccalaureate degree program located in the same
community college district as the main campus of any public
institution of higher education shall notify that public
institution of higher education at least 60 days before
submitting the application under subsection (b) to the State
Board. Within 30 days after the date the board of trustees
submits the notice, the public institution of higher education

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may provide a written response to the State Board for its
review. A public institution of higher education may not
prevent a community college from offering a baccalaureate
degree program.
(e) A community college district that offers a
baccalaureate degree program shall submit an annual report to
the State Board, which shall include all of the following:
(1) The total number of students pursuing a bachelor's
degree at the community college district pursuant to this
Section.
(2) The total number of bachelor's degrees completed
at the community college district.
(3) Workforce data showing demand for the
baccalaureate degree programs offered at the community
college district.
(4) The average cost of tuition per credit hour for
the bachelor's degrees offered at the community college
district.
(f) The State Board shall conduct a statewide evaluation
of all baccalaureate degree programs established under this
Section. The results of the evaluation shall be reported, in
writing, on or before 5 years after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly to all of the
following:
(1) The Board of Higher Education.
(2) The Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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(3) The Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives.
(4) The President of the Senate.
(5) The Minority Leader of the Senate.
(6) The Governor's Office of Management and Budget.
The evaluation shall include, but is not limited to, all
of the following:
(A) All baccalaureate degree programs implemented.
(B) Information identifying applicants, admissions,
enrollments, demographic characteristics of students, and
degree recipients.
(C) The extent to which each baccalaureate degree
program established under this Section fulfills identified
workforce demands that require 4-year baccalaureate
degrees.
(D) Information on the pace of employment of students
and the subsequent job placement of graduates.
(E) The cost of each baccalaureate degree program and
the funding sources used to finance each program.
(F) For each baccalaureate degree program, the costs
to students, the amount of financial aid offered, and the
student debt levels of graduates.
(G) Time-to-degree rates and completion rates for each
new baccalaureate degree program established under this
Section.
(H) The extent to which a baccalaureate degree program

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