Harper 4-year plan rejected

SPRINGFIELD -- Efforts to offer bachelor's degrees in two program areas at Harper College hit another political roadblock Thursday at the Illinois Capitol.

An Illinois Senate committee narrowly voted 4-5 to reject a plan to create a pilot bachelor's program for two courses of the Palatine community college's choice -- technology management and a dual public safety administration and homeland security program.

State Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat pushing a test run of the four-year degree programs, said suburban students with full-time jobs in the area have a difficult time affording traditional four-year colleges. This proposal would have especially helped local police officers obtain bachelor's degrees required for most departments, he said.

"As lawmakers we should be encouraging and supporting programs to break down barriers to higher education, and give the people as many options as possible to take a bachelor's degree to improve their lives," Kotowski said.

No state funding or money from local property taxes would have been used to finance the bachelor's degree programs, supporters said. Costs would have been paid by private donations and each bachelor student's individual tuition, set at average public university rates.

However, some lawmakers opposed to the idea feared they'd be "opening up a can of worms" that other community colleges would want to follow.

The 18-month accreditation period to the program also would disallow bachelor's students to be eligible for federal grant assistance. A Northern Illinois University trustee argued if Harper never received accreditation, students in the program would be left in the dark.

"What happens to those students?" said Myron Siegel of NIU. "It's not just a matter of transferring those credits somewhere else."

Siegel added that NIU could partner with Harper to place its own similar certificate -- but not bachelor -- programs on campus.

A Harper College spokesman estimated enrollment of the two programs combined would have been 80 students the first pilot year, 130 the second and third years and back down to 80 in the final study year when only seniors were allowed to enroll.

State Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican in favor of the programs, said he hopes lawmakers will reconsider soon.