Wyoming bill allowing community colleges to offer some Bachelors degrees passes

A bill that would allow community colleges to offer certain bachelor’s degrees has passed an initial vote in the Wyoming Senate. The measure would enable Wyoming’s seven community college districts to offer four-year bachelor’s degree programs. Such programs would need case-by-case approval in Wyoming but in other states include training in nursing or electrical engineering. The Senate Education Committee voted 4-1 Friday to move the bill to the full Senate, where it passed on a voice vote. The bill would need to pass two more votes in the Senate before advancing to the Wyoming House. Several people including Wyoming business leaders testified in favor of the bill in committee but top University of Wyoming officials including President Laurie Nichols spoke against it. Nichols says the community college degrees would duplicate programs already offered through the university.