West Los Angeles College today has achieved unique status.
West’s proposal to offer a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene officially has been approved, Geoffrey Baum, President of the Board of Governors for the California Community Colleges, announced.
West L.A. College is one of a handful of community colleges — the only one in the Los Angeles Basin – certified to offer a bachelor’s degree in a specific area under state Senate Bill 850.
Initial approval was given in January with 14 others. Vice President Joe Biden visited the dental hygiene program the same week the preliminary okay was extended.
The bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene is an expansion of the college’s dental hygiene Associate degree program.
“The selection of this program at West Los Angeles College is wonderful news for prospective students and the entire district,” said Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District. “It affirms the excellence of our faculty, curriculum, and facilities in dental hygiene. The opportunity to make this four-year degree available for roughly $10,500 in this high-need profession suggests we will be immediately oversubscribed.”
Dr. Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh, President of West, spoke of graduates’ flawless record. “Over at least the last decade,” he said, “dental hygienists with Associate degrees from West have had a 100 percent record of passing the same board examinations that are required of students in bachelor’s programs to practice their profession.
“This will open the door for our graduates to private practice, leadership positions, and to transfer into master’s programs.”
Currently, a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene is not offered at California’s state colleges and universities, only at private institutions where the cost can range from $80,000 to $120,000.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Carmen Dones, chairperson of the Allied Health Division at West. “Graduates will be able to apply to be an educator, researcher, or corporate representative, in addition to working in clinical practice.”
Mr. Baum, CEO of the state’s community colleges, called the upgrade “an appropriate expansion of our mission to meet the needs of an economy that is requiring more workers with four-year degree.
“We have consulted closely with the leadership of the Cal State university system,” he said.
Other colleges that received final approval are:
- Airframe manufacturing technology, Antelope Valley College
- Industrial automation, Bakersfield College
- Mortuary science, Cypress College
- Equine industry, Feather River College
- Dental hygiene (2), Foothill College and West Los Angeles College
- Bio-manufacturing, Mira Costa College
- Respiratory care (2), Modesto Junior College and Skyline College
- Health information management, Mesa College
- Occupational studies, Santa Ana College
- Health information management, Shasta College
Ms. Long-Coffee, communications director at West L.A. College, may be contacted at longcofm@wlac.edu