15 community colleges to give 4-year degrees

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) -- An announcement will be made Tuesday regarding which community colleges in the state will be offering four-year bachelor degrees.

California lawmakers approved the historic change that will begin in the fall of 2017.

The program is designed to help the state keep up with the workforce demand for college graduates.

The community college four-year degrees cannot duplicate programs offered by the University of California and California

State University systems and must be in subjects with unmet workforce needs.

"We simply don't have as many young people going to college as we did earlier," California Community College Chancellor Brice Harris said. "In fact, we now stand to have the first generation of Americans that are less educated than their parents."

Only 15 colleges statewide can offer bachelor's degrees under the pilot project. Those schools will be named tomorrow.