UCLA Researchers Present Findings on the Promise of California’s Community College Baccalaureate at AERA
Professor Cecilia Rios-Aguilar and UCLA student researchers share their work on the potential of CCBs.
Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, UCLA professor of education and chair, UCLA Department of Education, will lead a cadre of student researchers at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in April, as they present their research on the academic and career benefits of the California Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) program.
Rios-Aguilar and Davis Vo, a doctoral student researcher in the SEIS division of Higher Education and Organizational Change (HEOC), have co-authored a recent report, “Latinos in California’s Community College Bachelor’s Degree Programs: What We Know so Far,” published by the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute. Their report examines the enrollment, academic success, labor market experiences, and loan rate of Latino students in the CCB Program, and suggests that CCBs offer an accessible and affordable public pathway to bachelor’s degree attainment for Latino students. They will present their research on CCBs in an AERA Symposium session on Saturday, April 13 titled, “Examining Community College Baccalaureates (CCBs) as Tools for Social Mobility and Equity.”
UCLA Professor of Education Cecilia Rios-Aguilar will present her research on the California Community College Baccalaureate program at the Annual Meeting of AERA.
More than 1.3 million Latino students are enrolled in California colleges, the state’s largest population of college students. But historically, fewer Latino students in California have had access to four-year colleges such as the California State University system (CSU) or the University of California which offer bachelor’s degrees, and still fewer attain a baccalaureate degree.
Continuing inequities in bachelor’s degree access and attainment compared to the state’s non-Latino population pose a significant challenge to the state’s system of higher education and stand as barriers to learning, opportunity, and achievement for the state’s largest population group. The Latino community represents almost 40 percent of California’s population, but only 20 percent of its bachelor’s degree holders. Established by the state in 2014 and expanded in 2021, the CCB program enables a limited number of California community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in specific subject areas that address unmet workforce needs in a local community or region, such as biomanufacturing or health information management.
“Latinos in California represent a tremendous pool of talent that can help to fuel the future of our state,“ says Rios-Aguilar. “But for too long, inadequate and inequitable funding across K-12 schools, few geographically accessible colleges and universities in areas with high concentrations of Latinos, and high college tuition costs have posed roadblocks to college attendance and degree completion. We need to do more to create pathways to the opportunities a bachelor’s degree can provide.”
The symposium will include the papers, “Exploring Economic and Workforce Development Alignment: A Content Analysis of California’s Community College Baccalaureate Program Applications” by Professor Rios-Aguilar and Vo; and “Examining the Postgraduate Labor Market Success of Black and Latino/a/e Community College Baccalaureate Graduates,” by Liza Chavac, HEOC doctoral candidate; Professor Rios-Aguilar, and Vo.
UCLA alumnus Adrian H. Huerta (’16, Ph.D., Education; ’12, MA, Higher Education), assistant professor at the USC Rossier School of Education, will also present his paper, “Examining Employers’ Perspectives and Needs for Community College Baccalaureate Degree Programs,” during this session.
The symposium, “Examining Community College Baccalaureates (CCBs) as Tools for Social Mobility and Equity” will take place 3:05- 4:35 p.m., Pennsylvania Convention Center, Floor: Level 100, Room 115A.
In addition, Professor Rios-Aguilar will present, “Calculus Completion Among Community College Students: The Role of Institutional and Individual Precarity,” during a paper session on “Unlocking Student Success: Insights From Community College Research.” This session will take place on Sunday, April 14, 1:15- 2:45 p.m., Pennsylvania Convention Center, Floor: Level 100, Room 107A. She will be joined by her co-authors, Mia Elliott and Karina Ramirez, UCLA Education Minor students, and Brianna Wright, HEOC graduate student researcher.