The Chronicle of Higher Education
Delilah Brumer
September 25, 2026
A sweeping new effort to boost college completion has wound up becoming a wrestling match between the nation’s two largest systems of public higher education.
This past week, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, signed a two-bill package of legislation setting parameters for the state’s community colleges to offer more bachelor’s degrees. The laws come after a decade of feuding between the California Community Colleges system, which has pushed to expand its baccalaureate programs, and the California State University system, which has often objected to the degrees, arguing they are duplicative of its existing offerings.