The Brief

In my years reporting on community colleges, I never knew that 29 campuses offer bachelor’s degrees (at the time of writing this).

My goal — as a first-generation Latina student — is to receive a degree at one of the UC schools. But, could my life have been different had I known about these degrees? If I knew there were other opportunities to get a bachelor's degree locally, would I still be a journalist? (I like to think I would.) Along with many others, I felt like I was missing out on what these community colleges provide.

So, I interviewed students and faculty to learn more. This guide contains tips, history, research, and student, faculty, and expert voices.

This guide is for everybody: students, educators, co-workers, and everyone in between.

You never know who might want to start or resume their college journey.

How long have these programs been around?

In 2014, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that allowed community colleges a few years to try out bachelor degrees programs.

A 2021 assembly bill extended the programs indefinitely and allowed colleges to offer an additional 30 bachelor’s programs per year.

A state bill passed in 2024 even attempted to make these baccalaureate programs free at community colleges, as an extension of the already existing California Promise Program. (Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it.)

Which colleges offer bachelor's degree programs?

Here's a list of all of them and their websites. But we also made this handy map if you want to glance what's close to you:

How much do these degrees cost? 

California Community Colleges states that a bachelor’s degree costs $10,560. On most of the community college websites, this number is rounded down to $10,000.

The $10,560 number is determined by the sum of 60 units in lower division courses and 60 units in upper divisions. (We're going to explain units in that infobox two paragraphs down from here.) Californians pay $46 a unit for community college courses. This includes those parts of an associate’s degree or general education — or lower divisions. Courses for a bachelor’s degree (upper division courses) cost more: $130 per unit.

Out-of-state students pay more.

Bottom line: Apply for financial aid.

“Honestly, it's weird. I think this hasn't happened before; community colleges offering bachelor's degrees,” said Alison Parrales, a senior in the interaction design program at Santa Monica College. “Because many people, the reason why they don't do it is because, maybe they don't have the time, don't have the money. And community colleges are for people who are like that, basically.”

What should I know before applying?

The application process for the bachelor’s degrees at community colleges, while simpler than UC and CSU applications, still require effort and planning. Some programs can get competitive, as most colleges try to maintain a 25-student cohort size.

(A cohort is what the community colleges call the group of students in the bachelor’s program of that year.)

Research finds that many students who pursue these degrees are already within the community college system, as they build off of pre-existing associates degree programs. But these bachelor’s programs are open for everyone!

So if you’re interested in getting a bachelor’s degree at a community college in California, here are some things to think of ahead of time.

• Look into the program you want to join at least six months to a year before enrolling. 
• Check if you need to provide a portfolio of work, or if you are missing any prerequisite courses.
• Make an appointment with a community college counselor — for new and returning students.

How do new programs get established?

In order for these programs to exist, a community college must submit an application to the California Community College Chancellor’s Office where strict criteria is expected to be met: curriculum, enrollment projections, unmet workforce needs, and the curriculum and program itself that does not duplicate a CSU or UC program — to name a few.

This process is necessary for every community college that applies for a bachelor’s program, and once the program is approved, it then needs to be accredited.

Cecilia Rios-Aguilar is a UCLA Education Professor, and co-author of a research study about Latino experience and success post community college bachelor degree program.

“[Students] end up having jobs, you know, in the field that they're studying,” she said. “That's part of why these programs are created. They have to have that component, even from the application, from the design, they're very thoughtfully and intentionally designed so that students can take advantage of jobs that are available locally.”

Some opponents of these degrees at community colleges claim that they take students from four-year universities. Rios-Aguilar disavows this claim, and argues that the community colleges help to serve Black and Latino students — who historically have low baccalaureate degree rates.

“But they're not serving the same students,” Rios-Aguilar said. “If we had done a good job as a state of serving students, they may be competing. The evidence tells us we are not serving a large portion of Californians, ones who need a baccalaureate degree to achieve that upward economic and social mobility.”

What I do if I'm interested?

If this guide piqued your interest — for you or someone else — here are some next steps to get a bachelor’s degree at a community college.

• Look into the program you are interested in — online or in person. Whether the degree is related to a field of study you are familiar with or not, bachelor programs are available to everybody. Here's a handy list of all the programs. 
• Take a tour. Even if your degree is mostly remote, or just two years, it will allow you to learn about your college and make in-person connections. 
• Book an appointment with a counselor at the college you want to attend! Whether in person or online, counselors are there to help you with the enrollment process. They can let you know what general education courses are needed if you are new to college. They will also fill you in on costs and scholarships unique to the college. 
• Look into financial aid. Even though these degrees are available at a reduced cost compared to universities, it is still a pretty penny. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a great place to start.

Get a copy of our zine

Our newest zine.

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Ross Brenneman

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LAist

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We have a limited number of copies of this story as a 12-page zine. If you work for a community college, an academic enrichment program, or community space in the L.A. area and would like to provide copies for your constituents, please reach out to Ross Brenneman, senior editor for our education team. Please note that supply is limited.

Notice any issues?

There is a lot of information to cover. And there are a lot of programs, and things can change fast. Anything important we missed? Spot any problems? Get in touch.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she plans to unveil a new ordinance Friday that would ban all law enforcement from concealing their identities with masks.

The move, which was initiated in June, comes after government leaders and community activists reported a rise in federal immigration enforcement activity Thursday in Long Beach and San Pedro.

In a statement, Hahn said, "ICE is continuing to terrorize our communities," adding the actions "hit Long Beach hard."

"They are not communicating with local law enforcement, and we know they are not targeting violent criminals," Hahn said. "They are targeting people based on the color of their skin, or their accent, or the place that they work. They are violating our residents’ rights every day they remain on our streets. They are creating chaos and spreading fear in our immigrant community, and they need to leave."

Hahn said the ordinance will:

1. Prohibit all law enforcement, including local, state and federal officials, from wearing masks or personal disguises while interacting with the public in the course of their duties in unincorporated L.A. County; and
2. Require all law enforcement wear visible identification and agency affiliation while interacting with the public in the course of their duties in unincorporated L.A. County

There are some exceptions, like breathing apparatuses or motorcycle helmets.

Hahn said at least nine people were detained by masked agents on Thursday. According to Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, one of those detained was a gardener for Polly's Pies restaurant on Atlantic Avenue. He said federal agents chased down and attacked the man as diners watched.

The Trump administration increased immigration enforcement in Los Angeles County in early June. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the crackdown is necessary to keep the nation safe from dangerous criminals. However, many activists and leaders have denounced the arrests, saying federal agents are detaining hard-working members of the community and picking up people with no criminal record.

California has already passed state laws that restrict the use of facial coverings by law enforcement. But the Trump administration filed a lawsuit this week to stop them.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on Hahn's ordinance at its Dec. 2 meeting, when members of the public can share their comments. A required second vote on adopting the ordinance could be held one week later on Dec. 9. If adopted, it would go into effect 30 days later.

How to attend the board meetings:

• Dates: Tuesday, Dec. 2 and Dec. 9
• Location: 500 West Temple St., Los Angeles, in Room 381B, at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
• Time: 9:30 a.m.
• How to watch remotely

Federal immigration agents chased a gardener into a Long Beach restaurant Thursday and took him into custody in front of two police officers who were briefly startled by the chaotic scene, witnesses told the Long Beach Post.

The agents suddenly pulled up to Polly’s Pies restaurant on Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls in the morning and started running after a group of gardeners, according to Jacklyn Mitosinka, director of brand for the chain of restaurants, which her grandfather founded.

Agents chased one of the men inside and tackled him in the waiting area in front of the hostess stand, Mitosinka said.

LBPD officers were eating inside at the time, she said, and one “popped up quickly” and drew his gun in surprise, but he put it away once he saw the agents’ badges.

In a statement, police said the officers “quickly realized it was an immigration enforcement activity and did not intervene or engage in the activity.”

The agents took the gardener, and Polly’s Pies employees who know the man contacted his family and told them of the arrest, Mitosinka said.

The situation was “sickening and disheartening,” said Blair Cohn, executive director of the local business improvement district. He said a board member of the organization, who happened to be driving by, was able to get the keys to the gardener’s work truck and pass them along to his family.

The arrest appeared to be part of a string of immigration operations in Long Beach on Thursday.

Around 10:30 a.m., federal agents arrested three people outside Cherry Donuts on Cherry Avenue near 15th Street, said Franklin Kong, who was working at the front of the shop, which his parents own. The entire encounter lasted roughly 10 minutes, Kong said.

Several people were said to be picked up by immigration agents at Cherry Donuts in Long Beach on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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Federal immigration agents were also spotted at four other locations this morning, according to local immigrant rights group Órale.

The organization confirmed sightings at:

• The Light of the World Church, 785 Junipero Ave. at 10:12 a.m.
• Pacific Coast Highway and Walnut Avenue, 11 a.m.
• Pacific Coast Highway and Gaviota Avenue, 11 a.m.
• Outside Farmers & Merchants Bank at 2302 North Bellflower Boulevard, 11:30 a.m.

State and local laws prevent Long Beach police from assisting in civil immigration enforcement. City officials have also said they will not obstruct federal law enforcement “in any way,” something that would also be illegal.

In a video posted to social media, Mayor Rex Richardson called the arrests “dehumanizing” and “absolutely unacceptable.” He said the gardener at Polly’s Pies was “chased down and brutalized.”

In a statement, District 5 Councilmember Megan Kerr called it a “chaotic and cruel attack against a hardworking member of our community.”

In a statement, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn called for ICE agents to leave the region.

Federal immigration agents are “targeting people based on the color of their skin, or their accent, or the place they work,” Hahn said. “They are violating our residents’ rights every day they remain on our streets.”

Long Beach is part of a lawsuit seeking to block immigration agents from carrying out roving patrols targeting people based solely on factors such as their race, language or location they’re working, but in September, the Supreme Court lifted a temporary block on the tactic.

In its statement, the LBPD reiterated it “does not enforce civil immigration laws, participate in civil immigration enforcement, or obstruct lawful federal enforcement activities.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information from the Long Beach Police Department

East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell on Thursday became the latest Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for the 2026 governor’s race — announcing his campaign shortly before a scheduled appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector,” Swalwell told Kimmel. “Someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up.”

Swalwell has been a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump, taking a leading role in Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021 and maintaining a regular presence on cable TV. The former Alameda County prosecutor has raised money and campaigned for Democrats across the country, and he could tap those relationships as he enters what promises to be an expensive campaign for the state’s top job.

“I’ve been in these fights as a city councilmember up in Dublin, my hometown, as a prosecutor in Oakland, and taking on the most corrupt president ever in the U.S. Congress,” Swalwell said. “But I’m ready to bring this fight home.”

Swalwell lashed out at Trump for his administration’s cuts to cancer research grants, accusing him of targeting Democratic-led states such as California.

“It’s a little personal to me…I lost my best friend two months ago, my mom passed and she passed from cancer,” he said. “People in California expect that you’re going to invest in cancer research, not cut it.”

The race to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom remains wide open less than seven months before the June primary. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla both passed on running, and the special election over Proposition 50 diverted attention and fundraising away from the campaign for governor.

A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies this month found 44% of voters remain undecided.

Swalwell’s views on state policy are largely undefined, and he enters the race with far less experience in the state Capitol than fellow Democratic hopefuls Xavier Becerra, the former attorney general, and Antonio Villaraigosa, who served as Assembly speaker before he was mayor of Los Angeles.

But Swalwell’s clashes with Trump and Republicans in Washington could resonate with Democratic voters looking for California leaders to spearhead a resistance to the White House.

When the House voted to impeach Trump in 2021 for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Swalwell was tapped by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to help present the case to the Senate as an impeachment manager.

After Trump was acquitted, Swalwell sued him in civil court, arguing that the president fomented an attack that violated his civil rights and caused emotional distress. That lawsuit is ongoing in the U.S. District Court in Washington.

Last week, a top housing official in the Trump administration called for a criminal probe into Swalwell, alleging the congressman may have made false or misleading statements on mortgage documents to secure better loan terms. The accusations are similar to criminal referrals made against other Trump critics, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff of California.

Swalwell has denied wrongdoing and framed the move as political retaliation, telling Kimmel the charge was “nonsense.”

“If he thinks for one second that me, Schiff… Tish James are going to hide under the bed or shrink or just go quiet, we’re not,” Swalwell said.

Born in Iowa and raised in a Republican household, Swalwell has long joked that he appears on Fox News so his parents can see him. He was the first member of his family to attend college and spent years as a prosecutor in the Alameda County district attorney’s office. Two of Swalwell’s brothers served as deputies in the county sheriff’s office.

Swalwell burst onto the political scene in 2012, when he defeated longtime incumbent Rep. Pete Stark. In Congress, Swalwell parlayed a savvy use of social media and regular appearances on cable news into a national following and a significant financial war chest. In 2018, he campaigned across the country for Democratic congressional candidates as the party won back control of the House.

A year later, Swalwell launched a long-shot presidential campaign centered on reducing gun violence, but he failed to gain traction and ended his bid after just three months.

Swalwell’s path to the governor’s office could rely on support from Bay Area voters. He and state Superintendent Tony Thurmond, a former Assembly member from Richmond, are the only candidates who have won office in the region.

Historically, Northern California has been the bedrock of high-propensity Democratic voters, although the region has supported the state’s two Los Angeles-based U.S. senators, Padilla and Schiff, in recent elections.

Your trash, or the place where it ends up, is one of the most serious contributors to global warming. After livestock, landfills are the second-largest source of methane emissions in California, responsible for more than 20% of the state’s output.

That’s why the California Air Resources Board took action Thursday to monitor and capture landfill gases.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is generated from the breakdown of waste. Even though it’s a short-lived climate pollutant compared to long-lasting carbon dioxide, it severely exacerbates human-caused climate change.

The new rules will eventually require landfill operators to take action when a satellite or airplane detects a methane leak, improve routine leak monitoring and reporting and mandate stronger action on recurring issues. The protections will add to a suite of regulations the state passed in 2010, which made California the first state to develop stricter standards than the federal government.

“This is another example of California’s leadership in reducing emissions and harmful climate-warming pollutants across all sources. With these updates, California will be able to more efficiently and effectively monitor methane sources to detect and remedy leaks quickly,” CARB Chair Lauren Sanchez said in a press release.

The board reported that the state’s methane satellite, which passes by four to five times a week, has helped stop 10 large leaks since May.

“We believe that many operators would be interested in adopting these technologies to reduce the need for costly labor, especially as the number of mature technologies increases over time,” said air resources engineer Quinn Langfitt, who introduced the regulator’s proposal at a public hearing on Thursday.

The changes, which will affect 188 landfills in the state, are part of meeting the state’s goal to reduce methane emissions by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030.

Officials said the new rules could reduce landfill emissions by 427,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. They would create $34 million in social benefits and cost landfills around $12 million, with the largest bearing the brunt of the price tag.

A recent report backed up the agency’s findings: By 2050, landfill emissions could be reduced by more than half and up to 64% by the end of the century, according to a March analysis by Industrious Labs. The group noted that California landfills emit 7.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of methane annually, which has “the same climate impact as driving 1.7 million cars for one year.”

But even though the board passed the new rules, they won’t go into effect immediately; staff will need to address a slew of clarifying questions raised by the public and board members during the hearing.

CARB board member Diane Takvorian supported the rule but pushed for a public-facing dashboard to show when and where emissions plumes are detected.

“People are asking for basic information,” Takvorian said, noting that technology is moving fast and that people need information now, not in years. She and others recommended an 18-month technology review after the rule goes into effect. They also suggested that the state and landfills share any data with the public as soon as possible.

“If we have the data, we should share it,” board member Hector De La Torre said.

John Kennedy, senior policy advocate for the Rural County Representatives of California, said he is “supportive of efforts to reduce emissions.” His group represents more than two-thirds of the landfills to which the standards would apply. Kennedy wants to ensure that the implementation is feasible for local governments “while protecting the communities that are close to those landfills.”

A spokesperson from Waste Management, which does business as WM, representing facilities across the state, thanked staff for the updated plan, but said he hopes they will work with the industry on site-specific conditions, which of the new rules are “necessary and useful to diagnose conditions,” and a framework for using alternative monitoring technologies.

Multiple residents from the Los Angeles community of Val Verde attended the meeting. They said they have suffered because of widespread noxious odors and hazardous gas emissions from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in recent years. Brandi Howse, who spoke during public comment, said she has lived about 1,000 feet from the landfill for 27 years.

Howse said she has experienced clouds of methane and other gases at her home.

“You become dizzy, disoriented, nauseous. You get headaches, burning sinuses and bloody noses,” Howse said. “We are left to be concerned with long-term effects. I know that myself and my neighbors to my left and my right have all had cancer.”

Community members from the Kern County community of Avenal approached the podium to say that the landfill in their community is causing health concerns, including cancer, and people are leaving the town because of it.

“The smell is really bad,” said Leticia Luna, who moved to Avenal 15 years ago. “People are leaving our community because their homes are not safe, and when they leave, they find it difficult to sell because we live very close to the landfill.”

While many groups applauded the new rule, Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics, said it is a “real first step,” and that CARB needs even stronger rules to prevent fires and large emission leaks at landfills.