UPDATE: Modesto Community College System Selected To Offer 4-Year Degrees

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS/AP) - The chancellor of California's vast community college system has picked 15 schools that he thinks should be authorized to offer bachelor's degrees for the first time.

Chancellor Brice Harris presented the list of selected colleges to the system's Board of Governors on Tuesday in Sacramento.

The only system in our area that was selected to offer a 4-year degree was Modesto Community College, Derek Shore reports.

The board is scheduled to take a preliminary vote on the proposal and then final approval in March.

Until now, the state's 112 community colleges have offered only 2-year degrees. But a bill authored by Democratic State Sen. Marty Block last year established a seven-year pilot program that allows a maximum of 15 college districts to offer a single 4-year degree each in subjects not currently offered by the University of California or California State University systems.

Harris' recommendations include degrees in emergency services, dental hygiene, automotive technology and mortuary science.

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