(Iowa Capital Dispatch) Iowa lawmakers and community college leaders have found themselves on the same page about the potential benefits of offering baccalaureate degrees based on local needs, with legislation to make that potential a reality already filed.
Community Colleges for Iowa Executive Director Emily Shields, joined by Iowa Central Community College President Jesse Ulrich, Eastern Iowa Community Colleges Chancellor Bryan Renfro and Iowa Western Community College President Dan Kinney, presented to the Iowa House Higher Education Committee Wednesday on a study into community college bachelor’s degree programs.
Based on research into other states’ policies and impacts of implementation, Shields said the move into bachelor’s degrees has been seen less as a pivot away from the traditional community college mission and more as an expansion of it.
“As an expansion of the mission, what we really look at for community college baccalaureate degrees is the ability to provide local, affordable and accessible four-year degrees to folks,” Shields said.
Committee Chair Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, requested the study during last year’s legislative session and previously stated this would be one of his priorities for the 2026 session. He has also filed House Study Bill 533, which would allow community colleges to develop programs leading to a bachelor’s degree as long as they relate to job fields that “address a high-demand, sustained, and unmet workforce need within the community college region as shown by the community college” and aren’t offered entirely online.
A subcommittee meeting on HSB 533 is scheduled for Jan. 20.
Nearly half of all U.S. states already incorporate bachelor’s degrees into their community college offerings, Shields said during the meeting, with Illinois and Nebraska currently contemplating legislation to do the same. States like Florida and Washington have found success in students meeting degree requirements and in employment and wage gains.
Health care professions, business, technology and agriculture sciences are some of the most popular degree programs available nationally, she said, but in Iowa, community colleges would identify the biggest needs of the communities they serve and develop degree programs using that information.
Each of the community college leaders identified issues with access to education in their region, from being located in an “education desert” with no four-year institutions close by to dealing with a “brain drain” of students traveling elsewhere to learn.
Ulrich said currently if a student finishes their education at Iowa Central but wants to continue with their degree, their options are online-only schooling, which is not preferred for some, or leaving home, which some people cannot do and comes with extra costs and other issues.
He met one person whose child had wanted to attend Iowa Central but didn’t want to have to transfer to complete their nursing degree. Ulrich said everyone in Iowa should have the option of staying at their institution of choice to fulfill their education.
A recent regional job study from the Quad-Cities area found that there is a lack of baccalaureate degree options for working adults who want to further their career through education and training, Renfro said. Being able to offer bachelor’s degree programs at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges would open doors for both students and employers hoping to upskill workers, he said.
“Community colleges have the ability to take those two-year associate degrees that we know the information is critical and relevant to doing their job, but then building a bachelor’s degree on top of that,” Renfro said.
Kinney said during the meeting the topic of community college bachelor’s degrees came up many times in public meetings he held last year, with questions from people whose students would have chosen to stay close to home for their education if they had the chance.
In order to handle start-up costs associated with incorporating bachelor’s degrees into community college offerings, including expenses relating to faculty, facilities and more, Shields said the higher education system is requesting a grant fund totaling $20 million over five years. According to other states, it costs around $300,000 to start up a new program and there won’t be tuition yet at that point to cover expenses.
Collins said during the meeting the funding request is not included in the legislation on community college bachelor’s degrees, and Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, asked the community college leaders what their plan would be if this legislation passes, but money doesn’t follow.
Each was in agreement that, even if no state funding is available, program development will still occur, but not at the pace and capacity they could get to with startup money. Ulrich said if the legislation passes, he would still implement degree programs to combat brain drain, but the college would focus on programs with lower start-up costs like a bachelor of science in nursing program.
“I have to do … something to stop brain drain in my region, so we would start something,” Ulrich said. “It would probably have to start smaller. It’d have to probably be a more targeted area.”
Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, brought up a concern during the meeting that these programs wouldn’t be sustainable, pointing to declining traditional student-age populations, but community college leaders stated high school students heading straight to college aren’t the main target for these bachelor’s degree programs.
Community colleges’ bachelor’s degree offerings would be aimed not at 18-year-olds hoping to live in dorms and have the traditional college experience, Shields said, but at adult learners, those who are place-bound and those who financially cannot afford a university education.
Jacoby’s point about student numbers identifies “one of the most compelling arguments to do this,” Shields said, as just educating recent high school graduates will not be enough to meet workforce needs in the state.
“We absolutely have to get people back to education, upskilling, reskilling, and this is another part of that as well,” Shields said.
Community College officials present to the Iowa House Higher Education Committee meeting on bachelor’s degrees on Jan. 14, 2026. From left are Community Colleges for Iowa Executive Director Emily Shields, Iowa Central Community College President Jesse Ulrich, Iowa Western Community College President Dan Kinney and Eastern Iowa Community Colleges Chancellor Bryan Renfro. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
