Cecilia Rios-Aguilar to take part in roundtable discussion on degree program expansion
The education news publication EdSource, July 29 at 1p.m, will host a roundtable discussion on the potential expansion of the state’s community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees to students in California. The discussion will be hosted online. Register here.
Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, professor of education and chair of the Department of Education will serve as panelist for the discussion. Rios-Aguilar has conducted significant research on community colleges and degree program expansion. Her current work examines community college baccalaureate programs as pathways to racial equity and economic mobility, with a focus on Latine student outcomes.
Rios-Aguilar contends that community college bachelor’s degree programs provide a concrete pathway to socioeconomic mobility, while helping achieve the dream of completing a bachelor’s degree for students who have not been served by any other public college sector, especially among populations who are historically underserved. Given their success, she argues that policymakers should strengthen and support these programs, allowing them to grow alongside other college options in California.
In 2025, with colleagues Davis Vo, Elizabeth Meza and Deborah brag, Rios-Aguilar published, “A Multi-State Analysis of Latino’s in Community College Bachelor Degree Programs,“ in collaboration with the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute. Among other results, the research finds Latino students are enrolling and graduating from community college bachelor’s degree programs at promising rates, and that the programs offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional four-year institutions. Rios-Aguilar, along with colleague Davis Vo, is also the author of “Latinos in California’s Community College Bachelor’s Degree Programs: What We Know So Far.” The research examines the enrollment, academic success, labor market experiences, and loan rate of Latino students in the CCB Program. The research indicates that CCB programs hold significant promise for the Latine community, with 64 percent of Latinos in the program graduating and obtaining their bachelor’s degree within two years after officially being admitted to complete their upper-division coursework.
The panel will be moderated by EdSource reporter Michael Burke and Michelle Quinn, the executive editor of EdSource. Other panelists include Mark Sanchez, the superintendent/president of Southwestern College in Chula Vista, and Junius Gonzalez, vice chancellor for academic affairs for California State University.