Why would (presumably open admission) community colleges need to use The Common Application?
We’ll see if it takes off, but here is their argument:
It sounds to me like they are basically pitching this as a promotional/marketing platform for community colleges.
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Here’s what Wake Tech CC said in their press release announcing they were joining Common App:
I expect ultimately many community colleges will move to the common app for access reasons. I also expect many will participate in the direct admissions program. Some four year colleges are coming for community colleges in the sense that some are moving to offer two year AA degrees, so CCs have to try what they can to reach more students, (also noting some CCs are moving to offer four year degrees.)
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I work for a PA community college, and the 4 year schools are not only coming for our students by offering 2 year degree programs (PSU branch campuses and limited PASSHE schools), but they’re also coming for our dual enrollment students. These are schools that have the ability to attract students from outside their immediate area (whereas we have less leverage with out of area students), yet they go after local students and compete directly with us for students. PA, in particular, has way too many colleges. This set up is unsustainable given the enrollment cliff that is upon us.
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And the changes are going the other way too…with some community colleges starting to offer four year degrees!
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True, although that’s not the case for our CC. We have a fairly large early college program that has only grown in the past few years. Our president and even the governor want dual enrollment and especially early college programs to grow. Graduate high school with a diploma and an associate’s degree and then spend two more years at a PASSHE school and be done by age 20. That works for students who are actually ready for college classes in 11th grade, but comes with a fair share of problems and challenges.
They are also pushing workforce (non credit) programs in the skilled trades that are short term and lead to jobs in demand. Early College and workforce training appear to be our future, which is really what the governor wants from us.
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Some of the community colleges here in AZ are now offering 4 yr degrees. It’s only specific majors, but it’s a great low cost option.
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A relevant article from the WP. Should be unlocked, although you may have to create a free account to read it. Of course, one could use archive.ph to read the article as well.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/04/19/accelerated-college-degree-hacking/
Note that archive.ph is part of archive.today , which has been accused of DDoS attacks and altering archived content.
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Yep. There are many other ways to read paywalled articles, just a google search away.
I don’t know if I’ve read too many gift articles or what, but I was unable to access the article from the link above beyond the following:
It takes most college students at least four years to earn a bachelor’s degree. Christie Williams finished in three months.
The North Carolina human resources executive spent two months racking up credits through web tutorials after work in 2024, then raced through 11 online classes at the University of Maine at Presque Isle in four weeks. Later that year, she went back to earn her master’s — in just five weeks. The two degrees cost a total of just over $4,000.
I was also able to see the following comment from Christie WIlliams, the person mentioned in the lede of the article:
Source ● Human Resources Executive
I completed UMPI’s YourPace program myself and have helped guide many students seeking to do the same, so I wanted to add some context that I think tells a more complete story here.
The people finishing these programs quickly? They’ve usually been working toward this moment for years. Veterans with ACE credits from their service. First responders who’ve been taking courses in between shifts. Community college students who accumulated credits for years but never had a clear path to actually finish a degree. YourPace didn’t hand them anything, it finally gave them somewhere to land.
It’s also worth knowing that UMPI requires students to complete a minimum of 10 courses directly through the university. For a focused, motivated adult who already knows exactly why they’re there, that’s absolutely achievable in a shorter timeframe. And honestly, that focus and clarity is the whole point.
These are career-experienced people who don’t need four years in a traditional classroom. As adult learners they need a system that recognizes what they’ve already learned and gives them a fair shot at what’s next. Competency-based education does exactly that.
It’s not a loophole. It’s just a model that was actually built for them.
UMPI is just one example of a school offering this option. There are many schools with similar programs and course equivalents outside of their universities that allow students to move faster through their educational journey.
My hope is that more schools recognize the value of this approach for those who chose career over college earlier in life, because many of us bring great knowledge and experience to the table.
And this is the AI summary of the 2k comments generated:
The comments express skepticism and criticism towards online degree programs, often labeling them as “diploma mills” that offer quick, superficial education without meaningful learning. Many commenters argue that these programs lack the depth, rigor, and interpersonal experiences of traditional education, and they question the credibility and value of degrees obtained in such a short time. Some acknowledge that these programs may benefit experienced professionals seeking formal credentials, but overall, there is a strong sentiment that these degrees are not equivalent to traditional ones.
I’ll be back with my thoughts.
Based on the quotes above, here are my thoughts:
Many employers have turned a diploma into a shorthand to determine that an individual has the needed skills to be successful in a given position. As a result, there are people who may have the skills needed to be successful in a job but are barred from accessing those positions because of the lack of a diploma. That is unfortunate and a reason why some employers are trying to write job descriptions in such a way that an individual can show competency through means besides a college or graduate degree.
I don’t know the particular competencies required by UMPI (and don’t have the time at the moment to look them up). I suspect my feelings will be dependent on what the competencies are.
If it’s something like the ability to read, comprehend, synthesize, and analyze a nonfiction text and to understand the collegiate fundamentals of numerical and data concepts, then I feel as though it should be called something like a Degree of Competency or similar.
If the competencies were more in-depth, say needing a deep understanding of a particular field as well as a broad range of subject areas (humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics) comparable to various distribution requirements, then I think it’s more of a new model that could be equivalent to an online Bachelor’s.
I think part of it comes down to what one thinks of the purpose of a college education. Is it supposed to be a gatekeeping tool to separate the haves/elites/fortunate from the others? Is it supposed to be an indication of a particular standard of skills? Is it supposed to be representative of a broad education of a particular depth? Or is it a rite of passage that leads to learning many life skills and making various connections that are not necessarily easily measured by some type of assessment?
In thinking about this, I recall Matt Damon’s character in Good Will Hunting. He seems very knowledgeable (at least in math, history, and early American law) to a point that is well beyond that of a regular college degree. The character tells a Harvard student, “You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library.” If Will Hunting decided he wanted a job that needed a diploma credential and decided to go through the UMPI option, would people feel like he wasn’t really “deserving” of a diploma or that a school was a “diploma mill” if they granted him one?
So, for me, it depends on what the various competencies are that need to be shown and the standard/rigor required to demonstrate that competency to see how I feel about this particular situation.
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