By Byron Schlomach
A few bills pending in the legislature would allow Arizona community colleges to offer four-year degrees. The goal is to bring down the cost of a degree and produce more college graduates. Unfortunately the evidence suggests this is highly unlikely.
A major reason universities in the United States are an international success is that by and large they must compete for students for their financial viability. Even state universities are generally funded by formulas determined by the size of their student bodies. So, if they want to grow their budgets, they need to attract more students. Community colleges, on the other hand, do not have to compete for funding. Community colleges in Arizona have their own tax revenue stream that generates funding automatically—no competition for students required.
Even facing competition, Arizona universities have succumbed to the debilitating effects of being showered with tax money. Administration has become increasingly bloated. And they produce more dropouts than degrees; only the University of Arizona has a four-year graduation rate above 30 percent.
Arizona’s community colleges are no better: 82 percent of Maricopa County Community College students aim to get an associates degree, but only 11 percent of them have done so after three years. They too have bloated administrative bureaucracies.
If allowing community colleges to offer four year degrees is supposed to save tax money, the evidence points in exactly the opposite direction. If it is supposed to result in a more educated populace, the evidence does not support this either. Community colleges don’t meet their mission now, and they should not be rewarded for it.
If a community college is to become a four-year degree granting institution, it should be required to give up its taxing authority and compete for students like every other state university. Taxpayers’ wallets would still be at risk, but the colleges would at least have to work for the money.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: Community colleges have administrative bloat and low graduation rates
Goldwater Institute: ASU dismisses criticism of its low graduation rates
Goldwater Institute: Arizona’s community colleges produce dropouts, not graduates
Goldwater Institute: Administrative Bloat at American Universities: The Real Reason for High Costs in Higher Education
StateUniversity.com: Community Colleges – The History of Community Colleges
Dr. Byron Schlomach is an economist and serves as the Director of the Goldwater Institute’s Center for Economic Prosperity. He has 15 years of experience working in and around state government. He has researched and written on tax and spending policy in two states in addition to studying transportation, health care, and education policy. Schlomach’s writings have appeared in National Review Online, Business Week online and numerous Texas and Arizona newspapers. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University. 
