Community Colleges Plan To Fill Workforce Shortages By Offering Bachelors Degrees
Texas is facing workforce shortages in fields like nursing and education. One solution: lawmakers passed a bill this session allowing community colleges to hand out bachelor’s degrees in certain fields. Gov. Greg Abbot signed the bill into law last month.
Jesse Branum is sitting in a first-semester nursing lab at Collin College’s McKinney campus.
Branum’s a busy guy – he’s the father of a baby girl and a two-and-a-half year-old boy. He also works in an ER full-time and attends community college full-time.
Branum was trained as a firefighter paramedic, but now, he’s thinking about advancing his career. He’s in the right spot, because in a couple of years, Collin College plans to offer a four-year degree in nursing.
Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/community-colleges-plan-to-fill-workforce-shortages-by-offering-bachelors-degrees/