If Peninsula College began offering four-year baccalaureate degrees, might students planning to transfer elsewhere to pursue their higher education choose to stay here to study?
College President Tom Keegan certainly thinks so.
Keegan said that as college administrators continue to analyze results from a recent student survey, one important point is already clear.
“Of current Peninsula College students who are on the track to transfer [to a four-year institution], 85 percent said they are likely or very likely to continue their education here if we offer four-year degrees,” Keegan said.
That’s an idea that stands a fighting chance at becoming reality, thanks to pending legislation proposed by Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam,
Kessler’s HB 1962 calls for a pilot program in which three state community colleges would be authorized to offer four-year degrees in several disciplines.
If the bill is approved in the Legislature, Peninsula College would be a prime candidate to qualify as one of the pilot colleges, Kessler said.
‘Tentatively optimistic’
“I’m tentatively optimistic about the bill being passed right now,” Kessler said Friday afternoon.
