FRESNO, Calif. — On a recent Wednesday afternoon, students at Fresno City College gathered into the dental hygiene lab.
The room was sectioned into dozens of cubicles, each with a cushy green reclining chair and a plastic mannequin head. The activity for the day was to perform dental work on a plastic tooth. It is part of a program for an associates of science degree in dental hygiene.
But in the spring, Fresno City College will begin accepting applications for a new program: a bachelor’s of science in dental hygiene.
Fresno City College is the fourth community college to offer a bachelor's degree in the area, along with Taft, Bakersfield, and Modesto colleges.
More and more, community colleges are offering bachelor degrees that some students say they find cheaper, and more accessible. The bachelor programs at the colleges range from industrial automation and respiratory care to dental hygiene.
College officials say the accessibility and affordability of local community colleges help make it easier for people to gain the credentials, and that the degrees provide mobility for more people.
For example, dental hygiene programs in California were often offered through private universities and not public colleges – which meant diplomas cost students up to 25 times what it costs at community college.
Currently, the tuition for a bachelor degree in dental hygiene ranges from $2,500 to $66,640 per academic year.
Fresno City College offers one of the cheapest programs, at $2,640 per academic year. Taft College and San Joaquin Valley College offer dental hygiene programs for a little over $3,000 and $15,000 per year respectively.
By comparison, the private University of Southern California charges $66,640 per academic year.
For Marcela Aceves, a first year student in the dental hygiene associates program at Fresno City College, the cost is enough to keep her away from places like USC, she says.
“I don't know what their dental hygiene program is like, but who can afford to go there,” Aceves says. “Especially from the Valley.”
Aceves plans on attending the bachelors program at Fresno City College partly because it’s much more affordable.
Using available resources
The move for community colleges to build bachelor degree programs started in 2014, and while all community colleges are able to offer such degrees, most Valley colleges have yet to utilize the opportunity.
“It's expensive and you have to have resources, you have to have faculty,” says Liz Rozell, the senior advisor to the deputy chancellor for the baccalaureate programs at Bakersfield College. “Bakersfield College is a large college… we bring in good revenue.”
Bakersfield College serves 33,000 students every year, the largest student population for community colleges in the Valley, and it has four campuses.
To make up for less revenue, Fresno City College, a smaller campus, is using its already extensive associates degree program to design its bachelor program.
The college had been offering the associate degree in dental hygiene for 107 units, which meant adding 13 more units, or about four more classes, to establish a bachelor’s degree program.
Aceves, who is already part of the program, says that’s the reason she’s considering completing the program.
“I'm already interested in dentistry,” she says. “Why not take that step, go further, it's not gonna hurt anyone.”
Aceves worked as a dental assistant for eight years before deciding she wanted to level up, and she’s part of a group of people who go back for the purpose of economic mobility.
Impact on the community
Rozell says students who take part in Bakersfield’s programs are an older, more established population than typical college students.
“People get into careers and they start working in Industrial automation, for example,” Rozell says. “Then they tap out. They can't go any further because they don't have management skills.”
The bachelor’s degree at Fresno City College incorporates higher critical thinking classes — classes that can benefit managerial positions with higher pay.
And to establish a program in the first place, colleges must also demonstrate a need from the community.
Lorraine Smith, the dean of allied health programs at Fresno, says the dental hygiene program complements healthcare resources in the Valley.
“Dental hygiene I think is more of an awareness of how dental hygiene impacts the whole body health systems,” she says. “Our region has a need for all types of health care providers.”
There are also benefits for students. Aceves says she’s now thinking of other jobs she can apply for once she completes her bachelor’s degree.
“From the experience that I've had here helping other students… teaching is starting to sound a little bit better,” she says.
