This guest article appeared in the VC Star on February 14, 2026.
California’s community colleges were created to expand opportunity to meet students where they are and help them build better futures. Today, that mission calls on us to do more. As workforce needs grow more complex and traditional pathways remain out of reach for many Californians, community colleges offering bachelor’s degrees is not a departure from our purpose. It is a fulfillment of it.
At Moorpark College, we hear directly from students, veterans, educators, and working professionals across Ventura County. Their message is consistent and clear: too many capable, motivated students lack a realistic path to a four-year degree. This is not because they aren’t qualified, but because existing options do not align with the circumstances of their lives.
That reality is confirmed by an independent WestEd report commissioned by the California Community Colleges system, which found that bachelor’s degrees at community colleges should be evaluated based on access and regional need, not simply on whether similar coursework exists elsewhere. In higher education, location matters. A degree that exists somewhere else is not the same as a degree that students can realistically complete where they live.
This distinction is central to Assembly Bill 927, the legislation that permanently authorized community college baccalaureate degrees. The law was explicitly designed to serve students who cannot leave their communities to attend a traditional university.
That is exactly who Moorpark College serves.
Our students are working 30, 40, even 50 hours a week. They are parents and caregivers. They are veterans transitioning to civilian careers. They are mid-career professionals seeking advancement without stepping away from their livelihoods. Relocating to a university campus or commuting hours each day is not an option. Programs that require daytime, in-person attendance are functionally out of reach, even if they exist in the region.
What matters most is this: when community colleges offer bachelor’s degrees, students succeed.
Research demonstrates the effectiveness of this model. A study from UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment shows that 56 percent of students enrolled in community college bachelor’s programs would not have pursued a four-year degree if it were not offered locally. Once enrolled, students thrive. About 67 percent graduate within two years, and nearly 80 percent within three—outcomes that rival those at four-year institutions. Graduates also experience significant income gains, validating that these programs deliver economic mobility.
These are not abstract statistics. They represent lives transformed. Students who once believed a bachelor’s degree was out of reach are earning credentials that lead to family-supporting careers.
By those measures, Moorpark College’s newly approved Bachelor of Science in Applied Cyberdefense and Network Operations (ACNO) is exactly the kind of program California needs.
This degree was developed in collaboration with regional employers and public-sector partners to address the growing demand for skilled cybersecurity and network operations professionals. Graduates will be prepared for high-wage, high-demand roles supporting critical infrastructure, defense, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and emerging technologies across Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.
Moorpark College is already a National Security Agency–designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyberdefense, with hands-on labs, a nationally competitive cyber team, and strong partnerships with industry and government. Our students are already being trained for this field. What they lack is a four-year pathway that allows them to complete their education without losing credits, taking on unsustainable debt, or stepping away from the workforce.
The ACNO program builds directly on Moorpark College’s existing associate degree in cybersecurity, creating a seamless and affordable on-ramp to a bachelor’s degree. Students gain applied experience in cyberdefense, secure network design, threat detection, and incident response, skills employers increasingly require at the bachelor’s level.
The new ACNO degree joins Moorpark College’s existing bachelor’s degree in Applied Biomanufacturing, further expanding workforce pathways on campus. Together with bachelor’s degrees offered at Oxnard College (Dental Hygiene) and Ventura College (Automotive Career Education), the program reflects the Ventura County Community College District’s growing portfolio of local and affordable baccalaureate degrees designed to meet regional workforce needs.
The urgency is clear. Cybersecurity threats affect every sector of our economy. At the same time, employers face a growing shortage of professionals who are educated and operationally prepared.
This is not about competition between public systems. It is about coherence and responsiveness. California needs a higher-education ecosystem that reflects how people actually live and work today.
Moorpark College’s bachelor’s degree in Applied Cyberdefense and Network Operations will strengthen Ventura County’s workforce, support critical infrastructure, and most importantly, give working students a fair chance to earn a bachelor’s degree where they live.