New bachelor’s degrees begin in Fall 2020

Cincinnati State is now authorized to offer two Bachelor of Applied Science degrees– one in Land Surveying and the other in Culinary & Food Science.

Both bachelor’s programs will begin admitting students when registration for Fall 2020 begins, in March of 2020.

The College’s authorization to offer bachelor’s degrees was approved Dec. 4, 2019, by the Institutional Actions Council of the Higher Learning Commission.

Both of the new programs address regional needs for bachelor’s-level graduates with specialized skills that aren’t provided by other educational institutions in the area.

Cincinnati State Provost Robbin Hoopes said, “These two baccalaureate technical degrees build on Cincinnati State’s founding values, and allow us to expand our commitment to providing unique technical pathways for students who seek in-demand jobs in our region.”

• Licensure as a professional land surveyor requires a bachelor’s degree, but no other school in southwest Ohio or northern Kentucky offers the degree. The closest programs are at the University of Akron (Ohio), and at Vincennes University (Indiana).
   
• Similarly, there are no colleges or universities within 100 miles of Cincinnati State that offer a bachelor of food science program.

The Cincinnati State Catalog for academic year 2020-21 will include all policies and other information pertinent to the bachelor’s degree programs. The new catalog is scheduled to be published before Fall 2020 registration opens.

• The Land Surveying program is expected to offer junior and senior level classes starting in Fall 2020, since some potential students are already “in the pipeline” and have completed prerequisite courses at Cincinnati State or other institutions.
   
• The Culinary & Food Science program will not offer upper-level courses until academic year 2021-22.

The College has started the processes required to give students in both bachelor’s programs eligibility for federal financial aid, and that approval is expected early in 2020.

Tuition for bachelor’s degree courses will be the same as for associate’s degree courses. Maintaining the same tuition was a requirement in seeking approval for the new degree programs.

The HLC approval this month was the final step in a process that began in 2017, when the state of Ohio authorized community colleges to seek approval to offer bachelor’s degree programs that meet specific workforce needs.

• In January 2018, Cincinnati State presented proposals for the bachelor’s degree programs to the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE).
   
• In March 2018, ODHE approved Cincinnati State’s two bachelor’s program proposals.

Provost Hoopes said, “I am thankful to everyone who helped with this long journey, especially Dr. Monica Posey, Civil Engineering Technology Program Chair Carol Morman, industry leader Steve Cahill of Abercrombie & Associates, and many others inside and outside the College who long advocated for a bachelor’s degree for surveying.”

“Their many years of work were key to persuading officials in Ohio to allow community colleges to offer technical bachelor’s degrees to fill unmet industry needs.”

Ohio is the 24th state to permit bachelor’s degrees to be awarded by community colleges.