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NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, no. 158, Summer 2012 © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/cc.20012
This chapter presents models and terminology
representative of the contemporary utilization of the
terms community college baccalaureate, applied
baccalaureate, and workforce baccalaureate to provide a
foundation for the evolving language about pathways
leading to baccalaureate degrees.
Applied and Workforce
Baccalaureate Models
Deborah L. Floyd, Angela M. Garcia Falconetti, Rivka A. Felsher
Community colleges have a storied history of successfully providing path-
ways and access to credentials and degrees through various models of deliv-
ery and in diverse programs of study. Until recently, the highest degree
offered by community colleges was the associate degree. During the past
decade, major changes have occurred in the landscape of higher education,
with one of the most signifcant being the expansion of community college
missions to include the delivery and conferring of baccalaureate degrees.
The community college baccalaureate has emerged as a continued
pathway to a higher level of education—four-year degrees with specializa-
tions in applied and workforce felds of study, such as technology, manage-
ment, business, nursing, engineering, and teacher education. As community
colleges evolved from junior colleges to comprehensive institutions, con-
temporary community colleges demonstrated a commitment to increased
access to the baccalaureate through education partnerships. Providing
access to baccalaureate degree credentials is not new for community col-
leges, as almost all implement some form of partnerships. Such partnership
models include articulation models, university extension models, university
center models, and community college baccalaureate models (Floyd, 2006;
Floyd, 2005).
This chapter describes the aforementioned community college models
and selected terminology as a means for further understanding the uses of
the terms community college baccalaureate, applied baccalaureate, and work-
force baccalaureate.
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